On July 25, the US Justice Department announced the arrest of Ismael El Mayo Zambada, a notorious Mexican drug lord, along with the son of his former associate, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, in El Paso, Texas.
The Department of Justice has arrested two additional leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most powerful and violent drug trafficking groups in the world,” the department said in a statement.
Zambada is one of the most notorious and prolific drug traffickers in Mexican history and co-founded the Sinaloa cartel with El Chapo, who was extradited to the United States in 2017 and is serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison.
Zambada and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, El Chapo’s son, face multiple charges in the US “for directing the cartel’s criminal activities, including its network to manufacture and traffic deadly fentanyl,” according to the US Department of Justice.
According to some sources, Zambada and Guzman Lopez were arrested after landing on a private plane in El Paso, Texas, US.
After El Chapo was extradited, his criminal empire was inherited by four sons, known as “Los Chapitos” or “Little Chapos” (Chapo’s children), who took over their father’s faction and became one of the largest exporters of fentanyl to the United States.
El Mayo and Los Chapitos have had a tense relationship since El Chapo’s extradition, and the arrest of the two drug lords could spark unrest or even violence in Mexico.
In February 2024, federal prosecutors charged Zambada with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute fentanyl. Fentanyl is the leading cause of death among Americans between the ages of 18 and 45, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
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