The co-founder of Mexico’s notorious Sinaloa drug cartel was reportedly arrested in New Mexico on Thursday during a U.S. law enforcement operation.
KTSM 9 News reported that drug kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who is in his late 70s and reportedly in poor health, was taken into custody at the Santa Teresa International Jetport in New Mexico which is right next to El Paso, Texas.
Zambada has been on the run from U.S. law enforcement for decades after he started the drug cartel with drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who was sentenced to life in prison in the U.S. in 2019.
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The New York Times reported that Zambada and drug trafficker Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of El Chapo who is believed to have been elevated to a leadership role in the drug cartel, both surrendered to U.S. law enforcement officials at the small airport.
Both men face numerous charges in the U.S. for leading the cartel’s criminal operations that include pumping billions of dollars worth of drugs onto America’s streets, including being the primary drug cartel responsible for flooding illicit U.S. drug markets with fentanyl.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said that the two were part of “one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world.”
“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 statement said. “That includes the Cartel’s other cofounder, Joaquin Guzman Loera, or ‘El Chapo’; another of El Chapo’s sons and an alleged Cartel leader, Ovidio Guzman Lopez; and the Cartel’s alleged lead sicario, Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, or ‘El Nini.'”
“Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Justice Department will not rest until every single cartel leader, member, and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable,” the statement added.
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