Mexican drug lord Ismael Zambada Garcia, also known as “El Mayo,” co-founder of the notorious Sinaloa drug cartel, was arrested in El Paso, Texas, on Thursday, according to the Justice Department.
Also arrested was Juaquin Guzman Lopez, son of the cartel's other co-founder, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
“The Department of Justice has arrested two additional alleged leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world,” said U.S. Attorney General Merick B. Garland. “Ismael Zambada Garcia, or 'El Mayo,' co-founder of the Cartel, and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of its other co-founder, were arrested today in El Paso, Texas.”
Zambada García and the now-imprisoned drug lord “El Chapo” founded the Sinaloa Cartel.
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Undated photo provided by police showing Ismael Zambada. (Courtesy of the Attorney General's Office/File photo via REUTERS)
“El Mayo,” who was offered a $15 million reward by the Justice Department for information leading to his arrest and conviction, now faces a litany of charges for crimes related to drug trafficking and organized crime in the United States.
In February, U.S. federal prosecutors charged Zambada Garcia with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute fentanyl, which U.S. officials say is the leading cause of death among Americans ages 18 to 45.
The superseding indictment extended the dates of the previous indictments from May 2014 to January 2024, and at the time it was filed, Zambada Garcia was a fugitive.
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Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, head of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, is escorted to a helicopter in Mexico City following his capture in the resort town of Mazatlan. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, Archive)
Guzman was convicted by a federal grand jury in Brooklyn in February 2019 and sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years.
Zambada Garcia continued to evade capture and allegedly continued to run the Sinaloa Cartel from Mexico, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York in February.
According to the superseding indictment, Zambada Garcia operated a continuing enterprise responsible for the importation and distribution of massive quantities of narcotics from 1999 to 2024, which generated billions of dollars in profits.
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Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is escorted by soldiers during a presentation in Mexico City, January 8, 2016. (REUTERS/Tomas Bravo/File photo)
In his efforts to ensure the cartel's success, Zambada Garcia allegedly employed individuals to obtain transportation routes and warehouses to import and store narcotics and “hitmen” to carry out kidnappings and murders in Mexico in retaliation against rivals who threatened the Sinaloa Cartel.
The millions of dollars generated by the operation were then transported back to Mexico.
“El Mayo and Guzmán López join a growing list of Sinaloa Cartel leaders and associates whom the Justice Department is holding accountable in the United States. They include the Cartel's other co-founder, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, or 'El Chapo'; another of El Chapo's sons and alleged Cartel leader, Ovidio Guzmán López; and the Cartel's alleged top hitman, Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, or 'El Nini,'” Garland said. “Fentanyl is the most lethal drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Justice Department will not rest until every Cartel leader, member, and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable.”
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In light of Guzmán's conviction at trial, his name has been removed from the superseding indictment against Zambada García.
Reuters contributed to this report.
