One of the biggest cartel busts in recent memory began with an act of betrayal | CNN (2024)

One of the biggest cartel busts in recent memory began with an act of betrayal | CNN (1)

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Alleged Mexican cartel leader’s lawyer says client was kidnapped and taken to US

02:31 - Source: CNN

CNN

How did an alleged cartel kingpin who evaded capture for more than half a century end up in the hands of US federal agents?

According to officials, it started with an act of betrayal.

Details are still emerging about what led last week to one of the most significant and stunning cartel busts in recent memory.

US officials who’ve spoken with CNN say a key player in the operation to arrest Sinaloa cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was another major cartel figure who was arrested beside him.

Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of convicted cartel boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, duped Zambada and orchestrated their arrest, officials told CNN.

Zambada’s lawyer described what happened in harsher terms Sunday, accusing Guzmán López of kidnapping.

“Joaquín Guzmán López forcibly kidnapped my client. He was ambushed, thrown to the ground, and handcuffed by six men in military uniforms and Joaquin. His legs were tied, and a black bag was placed over his head,” attorney Frank Pérez said in a statement sent to CNN.

“He was then thrown into the back of a pickup truck and taken to a landing strip. There, he was forced onto a plane, his legs tied to the seat by Joaquin, and brought to the U.S. against his will. The only people on the plane were the pilot, Joaquín and my client,” Pérez added.

U.S. officials had previously told CNN that Zambada, 76, thought he and Guzmán López were flying to northern Mexico to look at real estate. But instead, the officials said, their small private plane landed north of the border near El Paso, Texas, where US authorities were waiting on the tarmac.

So far, we haven’t heard Guzmán López’s account of what happened. The 38-year-old is expected to appear in federal court Tuesday in Chicago, his attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, told CNN.

Lichtman said in an email Saturday that he’d appear in court with Guzmán López and added, “I’m looking forward to seeing Joaquin and working on the case with him.” He declined further comment.

Zambada pleaded not guilty to all charges in his first federal court appearance Friday. Sunday’s accusation from his attorney was the latest twist in a case that seems to get murkier with each account that emerges.

One cartel expert told CNN he’s dubious of some details officials have shared.

“It would not surprise me at all if the story changes from today to tomorrow, or next week,” said InSight Crime’s Steven Dudley, who’s spent more than a decade investigating drug trafficking and organized crime.

And as reporters pressed for answers in a contentious press conference Friday, Mexico’s president suggested he, too, has many questions about what occurred.

“The government of the United States has to give a complete report. It can’t be just general statements,” President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said. “There has to be transparency.”

This much is clear: The arrests of Zambada and Guzmán López mark a major development in decades-long efforts to capture and prosecute alleged cartel bosses. And the details revealed so far about what led to this dramatic moment offer a telling glimpse into the inner workings of what authorities describe as one of the world’s most notorious and nefarious criminal enterprises.

One of the biggest cartel busts in recent memory began with an act of betrayal | CNN (2)

The front pages of Mexican newspapers showed the news of the capture of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada.

Authorities had closed in on ‘El Mayo’ before

It wasn’t the first time authorities had Zambada in their sights.

In a 2010 interview with the Mexican magazine Proceso, Zambada said Mexico’s military had come close to capturing him at least four times before.

“I fled through the highlands, where I know the branches, the streams, the rocks, everything. They catch me if I am still or if I am careless, like El Chapo,” he said.

At the time, Zambada told Proceso that fear about being captured weighed on him constantly.

“I’m terrified that they’ll lock me up,” he said.

That 2010 interview was one of the last known public appearances for the notably lower-profile Zambada. His name surged into international headlines in 2018 and 2019 during the high-profile trial of Guzmán, whose lawyer argued that Zambada was the cartel’s true leader.

Lichtman, the defense attorney, also represented the elder Guzmán and alleged at the time that Zambada had bribed the Mexican government to frame El Chapo and remain free to run the cartel.

In 2021, US authorities raised the reward for information leading to Zambada’s arrest to $15 million.

Over the years, Zambada’s storied ability to evade capture was referenced in narcocorrido ballads about him. The 2022 corrido “Señor Zambada,” performed by ElFantasmaand Enigma Norteño from Zambada’s perspective, includes the lines: “I know very well that they want to catch me, that the government wanted to lock me up. But they are going to keep wanting that, because no matter how much they look, they are not going to find me.”

His elusive reputation also caught the attention of his enemies, former Drug Enforcement Administration agent Mike Vigil told CNN.

“Mayo Zambada, prior to (Thursday) and over 50 years of involvement in the drug trade had never been captured, never served any time,” Vigil said, “so he is highly respected even by his rivals.”

Dudley of InSight Crime pointed to this aspect of Zambada’s past when he told CNN en Español he was skeptical of accounts that painted the Sinaloa cartel leader as an unwitting victim who was tricked into being captured.

“I’m not 100% convinced that’s what happened. I see in El Mayo Zambada a person who’s older. He’s 76. I see a person who’s also experienced, a person who knows exactly when and from where any deception is coming,” Dudley said. “That’s why he’s never stepped foot in a jail until yesterday. So I have my doubts. That is to say, I think that we’re still missing information.”

One of the biggest cartel busts in recent memory began with an act of betrayal | CNN (3)

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Reporter describes significance of cartel co-founder's arrest

02:39 - Source: CNN

Officials say they exploited a rift in the cartel

Officials who spoke with CNN said Zambada boarded a plane with Guzmán López Thursday thinking they’d be inspecting property together near the border. Zambada didn’t realize US investigators had exploited a riftin the Sinaloa cartel, one official said, and that Guzmán López was in fact helping with Zambada’s capture.

A long-simmering power struggle between Zambada and El Chapo’s sons, also known as the Chapitos, was about to boil over.

Agents from Homeland Security Investigations, which led the operation, were skeptical at first when Guzmán López made the offer, an official familiar with the operation told CNN.

But as the plane they were flying in landed at the Santa Teresa airport near El Paso, Texas, on Thursday, federal agents were waiting.

One worker at theairport told Reuters that he saw a Beechcraft King Air land Thursday afternoon on the runway, where federal agents were already waiting.

“Two individuals got off the plane… and were calmly taken into custody,” said the man, who declined to share his name out of concern for his safety.

“It seemed like a pretty calm, arranged thing,” he added.

The entire operation, one source told CNN, went off surprisingly smoothly given the gravity of the arrests and the disruption it could cause to drug trafficking from Mexico.

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a historic leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, left, and Joaquín Guzmán López, a son of another infamous cartel leader, after they were arrested by U.S. authorities in Texas, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday, July 25, 2024. (U.S. Department of State via AP) US Department of State/AP Related article What we know about the Sinaloa cartel and its leaders

Now that Zambada and Guzmán López are in US custody, authorities are ready to make the case against them.

Both Zambada and Guzmán López face charges in the US for allegedly leading the cartel’s criminal operations, including its “deadly fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland saidin a statementafter the arrests.

Top US officials trumpeted the arrests as a major victory. But some analysts were more measured in their assessment of the potential impact.

“It’s a historic capture, of course, and symbolic. But is it going to create a collateral effect or have an impact on drug trafficking? I really doubt that,” Dudley said. “As much because El Mayo had pulled back already from the day-to-day operations, and the world of drug trafficking is really now a different world from when he started. It’s much more decentralized. It’s much more like a franchise. There are contractors, subcontractors, other contractors. There are many parts that can be easily replaced.”

Speculating on what could happen next, Mexico’s president pointed to Zambada’s own words in the 2010 Proceso interview. If he were captured or killed, Zambada said that effectively nothing would happen. In the world of drug trafficking, he said, whether capos are “locked up, dead, or extradited, their replacements are already out there.”

Experts say there’s little doubt that these arrests, like past high-profile kingpin takedowns, will spur a new wave of violence as rival groups vie for territory and power.

And no matter what new details emerge about how they happened, the surprising and dramatic arrests won’t soon be forgotten.

CNN’s Ione Molinares, Fidel Gutiérrez, Abel Alvarado and Amanda Musa contributed to this report.

One of the biggest cartel busts in recent memory began with an act of betrayal | CNN (2024)

FAQs

What was the biggest drug cartel in history? ›

Sinaloa Cartel
Cártel de Sinaloa
Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico
Founded1987
FoundersJoaquín Guzmán Loera, Ismael Zambada García, Héctor Palma Salazar, Juan José Esparragoza Moreno
Named afterSinaloa, Mexico
5 more rows

Who is the biggest cartel leader right now? ›

PHOENIX (AP) — Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the top leader and co-founder of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, eluded the reach of U.S. law enforcement for decades as the criminal organization evolved into the world's biggest manufacturer and smuggler of illicit fentanyl pills and other drugs to the United States.

What is the most violent cartel in history? ›

Los Zetas (pronounced [los ˈsetas], Spanish for "The Zs") was a Mexican criminal syndicate, known as one of the most dangerous of Mexico's drug cartels. They are known for engaging in brutally violent "shock and awe" tactics such as beheadings, torture, and indiscriminate murder.

Who's in US custody from the Sinaloa cartel? ›

Notorious Sinaloa Cartel Leaders in Federal Custody Following Joint HSI, FBI Investigation. On July 25, 2024, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada-Garcia and Joaquin Guzman Lopez were arrested by US authorities and are currently in federal custody. HSI Special Agents executing the arrest of El Mayo and Guzman Lopez.

What cartels are still active? ›

The 5 Most Powerful Drug Cartels in the World
  • Sinaloa Cartel.
  • Medellin Cartel.
  • Gulf Cartel.
  • Los Zetas.
  • Juarez Cartel.
Jan 24, 2024

What is the most powerful cartel in the world? ›

The Sinaloa cartel, named after the Mexican state where it was formed, is one of the oldest and most established drug trafficking groups in Mexico. It has long supplied much of the marijuana, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl peddled on US streets, according to a Congressional Research Service report.

Who is the cartel top boss? ›

Ismael Mario Zambada García

Who is the most famous cartel owner? ›

Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria

Often referred to as the "World's Greatest Outlaw", Escobar was perhaps the most elusive cocaine trafficker to have ever existed. He is considered the 'King of Cocaine' and is known as the lord of all drug lords.

What drug lord was recently caught? ›

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: One of the world's most notorious drug lords is now under arrest in the United States. The man known as El Mayo co-founded the Sinaloa Cartel.

Who was the most feared cartel? ›

The Sinaloa Cartel is a living legend, if such a term can be applied to a brutal criminal organization. Its founder was Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, currently incarcerated. Shortly after Gallardo's arrest, Joaquin Guzmán, also known as El Chapo, took over the leadership of the cartel.

What is the highest cartel activity in the US? ›

The Sinaloa cartel's US operation

The Sinaloa cartel is credited with pioneering the deadliest drug threat in U.S. history, reaping billions in profits from the fentanyl trade alone, the DEA report says. It dominates the fentanyl market by its manipulation of the global supply chain.

How does the cartel find you? ›

Mexican criminal organizations are allegedly tapping intelligence and security software, that is also used by the government, to locate and disappear rivals and hide their crimes, according to several sources within Mexican law enforcement and cartel members who spoke with VICE News.

Who is the real boss of the Sinaloa Cartel? ›

One of the world's most powerful drug lords, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, leader of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, has been arrested by US federal agents in El Paso, Texas.

Who is the godfather of the Sinaloa Cartel? ›

Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo
BornJanuary 8, 1946 Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico
Other namesEl Padrino (The Godfather) El Jefe De Jefes (The Boss of Bosses)
OccupationDrug lord
Height1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
7 more rows

How much is the Sinaloa Cartel worth? ›

The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service in a 2018 report noted that the Sinaloa cartel, until recently run by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, “by some estimates ... had grown to control 40%-60% of Mexico's drug trade by 2012 and had annual earnings calculated to be as high as $3 billion.” That would indicate the drug ...

What is the oldest Mexican cartel? ›

The Gulf Cartel is one of Mexico's oldest criminal groups. In its heyday, its boss, Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, was considered the country's most powerful underworld leader. The group has lost territory and influence in recent years as it has splintered into several different rival factions.

Who was the first drug lord in Mexico? ›

Pedro Avilés Pérez, also known as "El León de la Sierra" (English: "The Mountain Lion"), was a Mexican drug lord in the state of Sinaloa beginning in the late 1960s. He is considered to be the first generation of major Mexican drug smugglers of marijuana.

Is the Juarez Cartel still active? ›

The Juárez drug cartel is not as powerful as it was decades ago but remains a regional force in Chihuahua, West Texas and New Mexico, DEA officials have said.

What are the biggest Mexican cartels in 2024? ›

“The Sinaloa Cartel is most closely identified with drug trafficking but is also engaged in extortion, the theft of petroleum and ores, weapons trafficking, migrant smuggling, and prostitution,” the 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment states.

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