Ismael” El Mayo” Zambada, the head of the Mexican drug gang, claims in a letter released by his solicitor on Saturday that he was ambushed, kidnapped, and later taken to the United States. The two-page text information Zambada’s account of an event on July 25, where he was presumably invited to a conference with local officials, including Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya.
According to Zambada, friend drug lord JoaquÃn Guzmán López arranged the meeting, but rather, he was ambushed. He was apparently knocked down, hooded, handcuffed, and then transported in a delivery truck to a private takeoff strip. That, he was forced onto a plane that took him, along with Guzmán López, to the United States.
Zambada was actually taken into the US against his would, according to the US ambassador to Mexico on Friday, arriving in Texas alongside Guzmán López. The potential connections between local lawmakers and drug traffickers in Sinaloa are now being investigated more seriously as a result of this discovery.
Governor Rocha has denied any involvement in organized crime and claimed to be in Los Angeles on the day of the alleged invasion. At an occasion in Culiacán, Rocha asserted,” There is no involvement with crime”, and emphasized his trust in the mayor’s dignity. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum were manifest, showing their support for Rocha.
Héctor Melesio Cuén, a previous local congressman and president of Culiacán, was apparently assassinated on the same day at the conference site, according to Zambada’s text. The notice did not specify Rocha’s appearance but claimed Cuén was a long-time companion of Zambada.
Zambada, who is 76, made his second presence in US federal judge in Texas in early August following his extradition. Guzmán López, 38, had been negotiating with US government for possible retreat. In federal judge in Chicago, he entered a not-guilty plea to drug trafficking and other fees. In the US, both men are still in jail and face several drug-related charges.
Ken Salazar, the US embassy to Mexico, noted that the aircraft used for the abduction was unregistered and piloted by a non-American, implying probable covert operations in Guzmán López’s attempt to secure more suitable care.
Zambada, who is regarded as a key figure in the Sinaloa regime’s internal conflicts, has engaged in extensive bribery networks. He is accused of being the “principal leader” behind major narcotics imports into the US on numerous charges, including a most recent indictment in New York.
