CIUDAD JUAREZ, CHIHUAHUA (July 25, 2024).- Mexican drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and the son of notorious narco Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman were taken into custody in the border city of El Paso, Texas.
The Justice Department Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said, the co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia,76, and the son of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, 35, are in U.S. custody after they were arrested in El Paso.
According to CNN, both men were lured into the U.S. under false pretenses, with at least one of the men thinking they were flying to look at property to purchase in Mexico.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) revealed both men surrendered willingly.
Aylin Herrera from FOX San Antonio reports on the arrest of two top Mexican figures behind the Sinaloa drug cartel.
According to authorities, “El Mayo” and Guzman Lopez join a growing list of Sinaloa Cartel leaders and associates who the Justice Department is holding accountable in the United States.
The list reportedly includes “El Chapo,” another of El Chapo’s sons and an alleged Cartel leader, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, as well as the Cartel’s alleged lead sicario Nestor Isidro Perez Salas, or “El Nini.”
Law enforcement listed a reward for information leading to Zambada’s arrest of up to $15 million and up to $5 million for Guzman Lopez.
Sources said both men were detained at the Doña Ana County International Jetport in Santa Teresa, right next to the War Eagles Air Museum.
The scene at the Doña Ana County International Jetport in Santa Teresa after Mexican drug lords Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada and ‘El Chapo’s’ son were arrested. July 25, 2024. Credit: KFOX14/CBS4
HSI released the following statement regarding the arrests:
[ON THURSDAY] ISMAEL ‘EL MAYO’ ZAMBADA-GARCIA AND JOAQUIN GUZMAN LOPEZ WERE ARRESTED BY U.S. AUTHORITIES AND ARE CURRENTLY IN CUSTODY IN EL PASO, TEXAS.
THESE ARRESTS ARE A CULMINATION OF A JOINT HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS (HSI) AND FBI INVESTIGATION TARGETING THE SINALOA CARTEL. IN DECEMBER OF 2022, HSI AND THE FBI SECURED INDICTMENTS AGAINST SEVERAL MEMBERS OF THE SINALOA CARTEL INCLUDING JOAQUIN GUZMAN LOPEZ, SON OF ‘EL CHAPO’ GUZMAN. ISMAEL ZAMBADA-GACIA WAS THE PARTNER AND CO-HEAD OF THE SINALOA CARTEL WITH ‘EL CHAPO’ AND A CLOSE CONFIDANT OF HIS SONS. ZAMBADA-GARCIA HAS MULTIPLE PENDING INDICTMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES.
THE COLLABORATIVE EFFORT OF [THURSDAY’S] ACTIONS WITH OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT PARTNERSHIPS IS YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF HSI’S COMMITMENT TO COMBAT THE ILLICIT MOVEMENT OF DEADLY DRUGS LIKE FENTANYL INTO THE UNITED STATES.
HSI THANKS ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE ARREST OF THESE TWO INDIVIDUALS. THESE ARE ONGOING INVESTIGATIONS AND AS SUCH LIMITED INFORMATION WILL BE AVAILABLE.
HSI
Drug Enforcement Agency Administrator Anne Milgram released the following statement:
THE ARREST OF ISMAEL ZAMBADA GARCIA, BETTER KNOWN AS ‘EL MAYO,’ ONE OF THE ALLEGED FOUNDERS AND LEADERS OF THE SINALOA CARTEL, STRIKES AT THE HEART OF THE CARTEL THAT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MAJORITY OF DRUGS, INCLUDING FENTANYL AND METHAMPHETAMINE, KILLING AMERICANS FROM COAST TO COAST. EL MAYO IS ONE OF DEA’S MOST WANTED FUGITIVES AND HE IS IN CUSTODY TONIGHT AND WILL SOON FACE JUSTICE IN A U.S. COURT OF LAW. JOAQUIN GUZMAN LOPEZ, ANOTHER ALLEGED LEADER OF THE SINALOA CARTEL, AND THE SON OF ‘EL CHAPO,’ WAS ALSO ARRESTED TODAY – HIS ARREST IS ANOTHER ENORMOUS BLOW TO THE SINALOA CARTEL. IN 2017, HE AND HIS BROTHERS, THE CHAPITOS, ALLEGEDLY TOOK CONTROL OF THE SINALOA CARTEL AFTER EL CHAPO WAS EXTRADITED TO THE UNITED STATES. DEA WILL CONTINUE TO SEEK JUSTICE FOR ANY AMERICAN LIFE THAT IS LOST AND WILL WORK TIRELESSLY TO PREVENT MORE NEEDLESS DEATHS AND PURSUE THOSE WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE.
HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS’ STATEMENT:
THE SINALOA CARTEL PIONEERED THE MANUFACTURE OF FENTANYL AND HAS FOR YEARS TRAFFICKED IT INTO OUR COUNTRY, KILLING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS AND DEVASTATING COUNTLESS COMMUNITIES. THE BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION HAS TAKEN A RELENTLESS, UNPRECEDENTED, AND COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO COMBATING THE SCOURGE OF FENTANYL. [ON THURSDAY], TWO OF THE CARTEL’S ALLEGED TOP LEADERS – ISMAEL ZAMBADA GARCIA (‘EL MAYO’) AND JOAQUIN GUZMAN LOPEZ – ARE IN U.S. CUSTODY AND WILL BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE. I COMMEND THE DEDICATED, BRAVE AGENTS AND OFFICERS OF HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS AND THE FBI WHOSE YEARS OF WORK, ALONGSIDE OTHERS IN THE LAW ENFORCEMENT COMMUNITY, HAVE, AT GREAT PERSONAL SACRIFICE, DISRUPTED AND DISMANTLED CARTEL OPERATIONS ACROSS THE WORLD.
STATEMENT FROM FBI DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER WRAY:
[ON THURSDAY] THE FBI AND DEA ARRESTED TWO ALLEGED CARTEL LEADERS WHO HAVE ELUDED LAW ENFORCEMENT FOR DECADES. ISMAEL MARIO “EL MAYO” ZAMBADA GARCÍA AND JOAQUIN GUZMAN LOPEZ, SON OF EL CHAPO, WILL NOW FACE JUSTICE IN THE UNITED STATES,” SAID FBI DIRECTOR CHRIS WRAY. “GARCIA AND GUZMAN HAVE ALLEGEDLY OVERSEEN THE TRAFFICKING OF TENS OF THOUSANDS OF POUNDS OF COCAINE, HEROIN, METHAMPHETAMINE, AND FENTANYL INTO THE U.S. ALONG WITH RELATED VIOLENCE. THESE ARRESTS ARE AN EXAMPLE OF THE FBI’S AND OUR PARTNERS’ COMMITMENT TO DISMANTLING VIOLENT TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THE SINALOA CARTEL.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Statement on Arrests of Alleged Leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel Ismael Zambada Garcia (El Mayo) and Joaquin Guzman Lopez
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) July 26, 2024
🔗: https://t.co/LumvDMKx2F pic.twitter.com/Wcm20MLrhC
