Ismael” El Mayo” Zambada, a strong Mexican drug gang president who eluded officials for years, was duped into flying into the U. S. and was arrested alongside Joaquín Guzmán López, a boy of notorious drug kingpin Joaquín” El Chapo” Guzmán. This remarkable incarceration was part of a covert operation by U. S. government, a U. S. law enforcement official revealed under the condition of privacy.
Zambada assumed he was going to a different place when he boarded an aircraft to the United States. Upon arriving in the El Paso place, Zambada and Guzmán López were soon taken into custody by U. S. government. According to the Associated Press, the national did not reveal who persuaded Zambada to board the plane or where he is believed to have traveled.
Zambada showed up in El Paso’s federal court on Friday night, where he entered a plea of not innocent to several drug trafficking accusations. Frank Perez, Zambada’s attorney, stated that Zambada was brought to the U. S. “against his can” and did not surrender freely.
Zambada is a key target for the U.S. government, which offered a reward of up to$ 15 million for information leading to his capture. He is one of the world’s most powerful drug lords. His imprisonment is considered a major blow to the Sinaloa cartel, accountable for trafficking large amounts of medicines, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, across the U. S. borders.
” Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our nation has always faced, and the Justice Department did not rest until every single syndicate head, part, and associate responsible for poisoning our societies is held accountable,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a statement.
Mexico’s president Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador claimed that the country was not involved in the operation and was still looking for information about the arrests. He suggested that despite the arrests, other figures could step in to fill the vacuum, emphasizing his administration’s focus on addressing the root causes of drug use and violence.
Mexican Security Secretary Rosa Icela Rodríguez confirmed that the plane took off from Hermosillo, Mexico, with only the pilot. The plane ceased transmitting its speed and altitude for about 30 minutes over northern Mexico’s mountains before resuming its route to the U.S. border, according to FlightAware’s tracking service.
” It is a fact that one person went out from here, three people arrived there”, Rodríguez said.
Zambada faces charges in several U. S. cases, including in New York and California. He was the “principal leader of the criminal enterprise responsible for the importation of enormous quantities of narcotics into the United States,” according to a recent indictment in New York in February.
Zambada, one of the longest-surviving capos in Mexico, was considered the cartel’s strategist, more involved in day-to-day operations than his flashier boss,” El Chapo”. Zambada avoided the gruesome cartel violence that would draw attention because he was known for concentrating on the business side of trafficking.
