The Department of Justice announced Thursday that it had apprehended two alleged top leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most powerful drug trafficking groups in the world.
Ismael Zambada Garcia, also known as “El Mayo,” and Joaquin Guzman Lopez were arrested in El Paso, Texas, for leading the cartel’s deadly fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks.
Their arrests are a major win for U.S. authorities, who had been seeking Zambada’s capture for years.
Here is what to know about the two powerful drug traffickers.
Who is Ismael Zambada Garcia?
Zambada, 76, is a co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel and the cartel’s “unquestioned senior leader,” according to the State Department.
Born in Sinaloa, Mexico, Zambada goes by the aliases “El Mayo,” “Mayo Zambada,” “Doc,” “M-Z,” “Padrino,” and “El Ingeniero Quinto,” among others.
He has been charged in a series of indictments over the years, all of which deal with a major violation of U.S. narcotics laws.
Despite spending his entire adult life as a major international drug trafficker, Zambada has never spent time in jail, according to the State Department.
Before his arrest, the U.S. government was offering a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to his arrest or conviction. He also has four active arrest warrants in Mexico for organized crime and other unlawful acts, according to Rosa Icela Rodriguez, Mexico’s secretary of security.
For decades, Zambada has “overseen the trafficking of tens of thousands of pounds of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the United States along with scores of related violence,” FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge David Sundberg said in February, when the drug lord was charged with conspiring to manufacture and distribute fentanyl.
Federal prosecutors said he employed people to “obtain transportation routes and warehouses to import and store narcotics,” and hired hit men, or sicarios, to kidnap and murder rivals who threatened the cartel.
Zambada’s top ally, Joaquin Guzman Loera, also known as “El Chapo,” the Sinaloa Cartel’s other co-founder, is serving a life sentence in U.S. prison after being convicted in 2019 on drug conspiracy charges. However, Zambada himself had continually evaded capture.
He was arrested Thursday after reportedly being tricked by Lopez, El Chapo’s son, into boarding a plane headed to Texas, where federal agents were waiting.
Who is Joaquin Guzman Lopez?
Lopez, 38, is a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel and allegedly controlled his own drug trafficking organization along with his brother, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, under the umbrella of the cartel, according to the State Department.
Lopez and his brother inherited a large amount of narcotics proceeds upon their brother’s death and used it to purchase marijuana in Mexico and cocaine in Colombia and arrange for the smuggling of ephedrine from Argentina to Mexico, according to the U.S. government.
U.S. authorities also report the pair oversaw several methamphetamine labs in Mexico, which produce about 3,000-5,000 pounds per month.
Lopez was first indicted along with his brother in 2018 in the U.S., and Ovidio Guzman Lopez was arrested in Mexico and extradited to Chicago last September.
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Lopez reportedly tricked Zambada into boarding the plane to help his brother Ovidio, the New York Times reported.
He is expected to appear in federal district court in Chicago.