Mexico City, Mexico — Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, was arrested by U.S. agencies in El Paso, Texas, on July 25 without the knowledge of the Mexican government, who are demanding transparency behind the apprehension.
El Mayo Zambada co-founded The Sinaloa Cartel with Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who is currently serving a life sentence in the U.S. and whose son, Joaquin Guzman López, was also arrested in Texas along with Zambada.
Zambada, the 76-year-old Mexican kingpin, is regarded by many as the true leader of the Sinaloa Cartel and is one of the architects of the Mexican drug scene, having set the foundations of the current criminal structures in the country.
News of his arrest in Texas struck Mexico by surprise, including the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who was reportedly completely unaware of the plans to take down the capo.
Mexico’s Secretary of Citizen Security Rosa Icela Rodriguez said that the government was informed of the arrests via a call from the U.S. Embassy and the Mexican government had no involvement in the arrests.
“The question is whether we participated in yesterday’s arrest. No, the Mexican Government did not participate in this arrest or surrender; this is not the case,” she said on July 26.
Rodriguez also shared that the details behind the arrest are unknown and that they don’t know if the U.S. brokered a deal with the Sinaloa Cartel in exchange for Zambada.
“That is the part of the investigation that we have to follow, but we are waiting for the official statement… if he was captured or surrendered. What happened? That is part of what the U.S. Government will have to talk about,” said Rodríguez.
For his part, President López Obrador urged Washington to deliver a detailed briefing on the operation leading to the arrest.
“The U.S. government has to give a complete report; it is not just general statements; there has to be information, there has to be transparency,” he said.
The U.S. government has targeted the Sinaloa Cartel over its role in the manufacturing and mass trafficking of fentanyl into the United States, which is responsible for the deaths of 100,000 Americans annually.
Zambada has four pending charges in Mexico, although López Obrador and his government have shown no intention of extraditing the narco.
According to Keegan Hamilton, criminal justice editor for the Los Angeles Times, Zambada has pleaded not guilty to all 38 charges filed against him. The U.S. will hold its first hearing on July 31.
