EL PASO, Texas — Mexican drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and the son of notorious narco “El Chapo” Guzman have been arrested in the U.S.
According to Reuters, the co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia is in U.S. custody.
Reuters also reported that Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of Mexican drug kingpin “El Chapo” was also captured in the U.S.
According to the report, Zambada faces numerous charges due to drug trafficking and organized crime activity on U.S. soil.
The U.S. Department of State listed a reward for information leading to Zambada’s arrest of up to $15 million.
Who is Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada?
According to the U.S. Department of State:
Ismael Mario Zambada Garcia is the long-time leader of the Zambada Garcia faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. Zambada Garcia is unique in that he has spent his entire adult life as a major international drug trafficker, yet he has never spent a day in jail. With the arrest, extradition, conviction, and sentencing of fellow Sinaloa Cartel faction leader Joaquin Guzman-Loera, a/k/a Chapo Guzman, Zambada Garcia is the unquestioned senior leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Zambada Garcia has been charged in a series of indictments over the years:
January 28, 2003, District of Columbia.
August 20, 2009 – Northern District of Illinois.
April 11, 2012 – Western District of Texas.
July 25, 2014 – Southern District of California.
May 11, 2016 – Eastern District of New York.
All of the indictments involve a major violation of U.S. narcotics laws.
In the Northern District of Illinois indictment unsealed in 2009, Zambada’s son, Vicente Zambada Niebla, was also charged. Zambada Niebla was arrested by Mexican authorities that same year and extradited back to the United States to face charges in Chicago in 2013. Zambada Niebla eventually pled guilty and agreed to cooperate, testifying against Joaquin Guzman Loera at his trial in Brooklyn, New York, in January 2019. He was sentenced to 15 years of incarceration in May 2019. During his testimony in New York, Zambada Niebla recounted the shipment of tons of drugs by his father, Zambada Garcia, and Chapo Guzman. He also testified that his father’s bribery budget was often as much as $1 million per month, with bribes going to many high-level Mexican public officials.
