Sinaloa cartel co-founder Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada arrested after being lured to Texas airfield

Sinaloa cartel co-founder Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada was arrested by U.S. federal agents Thursday after another cartel member lured him into flying to Texas, U.S. and Mexican officials said. His arrest stems from charges filed in February by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York for engaging in conspiracy to manufacture and distribute fentanyl.

Fentanyl is a Schedule II controlled substance similar to morphine but about 100 times more potent, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

He was previously charged with conspiracy to murder, money laundering, running a criminal enterprise,  and other drug-related offenses.

Joaquín Guzmán López, the son of drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán—currently imprisoned in the United States—was on the same plane and also detained, according to Wall Street Journal report that cited an official with the Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). 

The elder Guzmán co-founded the Sinaloa cartel 30 years ago with Zambada who now runs fentanyl smuggling operations for the criminal enterprise. A reward, offered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency for up to $15 million says the cartel veteran was wanted for RICO violations and drug trafficking.

The Sinaloa Cartel, also known as the Guzmán-Zambada Organization, the Federation, the Blood Alliance is the largest and most powerful cartel in Mexico. Founded in the 1960’s, it controlled most of the drug trafficking along the Mexican-U.S. border during the 1980s. It is considered the main rival of the Gulf Cartel, one of Mexico’s oldest and most powerful criminal organizations.

According to the Journal, Zambada was told he was flying to Texas to inspect secret airfields as part of an ongoing Sinaloa drug trafficking operation. Instead, he was flown to El Paso, Texas where he and his former co-founder’s son were immediately arrested on the runway, according to HSI.

The joint operation, which was conducted with the Federal Bureau of Investigation was operational for several months, according to the official.

The arrests are the latest victory for U.S. law enforcement officials who have recently escalated transnational prosecutorial operations against Mexican drug cartels. It is also the latest loss endured by

the Sinaloa cartel, which is a priority for Justice Department officials.

Another son of “El Chapo” Guzmán, Ovidio Guzmán was arrested in January 2023 and was extradited to the United States to face drug charges.

“El Nini” Pérez Salas, the top hitman for “El Chapo” Guzmán’s children, was detained in November and extradited to the United States earlier this year, and “El Chapo” Guzmán, another drug lord known for his successful prison escapes, was extradited to the U.S. in 2017 where he received a life sentence in 2019.

“Unlike the elder Guzmán, Zambada was known for keeping a low profile,” the Journal wrote. “In Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa state and the hometown of the cartel, Zambada was seen as a cartel elder who kept order and protected the city from the attacks of rival groups, residents said.”

Joaquín Guzmán López has three brothers known as “Los Chapitos” who law enforcement officials say were trafficking fentanyl to the U.S. One of the brothers, Ovidio Guzmán, was widely recognized as one of the key fentanyl distributors in Mexico.

“El Mayo and Guzman Lopez join a growing list of Sinaloa Cartel leaders and associates who the Justice Department is holding accountable in the United States,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Thursday.

“Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Justice Department will not rest until every single cartel leader, member, and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable.”

According to the DEA, illegal fentanyl is usually “manufactured in foreign clandestine labs and smuggled into the United States through Mexico,” and “being distributed across the country and sold on the illegal drug market.” 

It is often mixed in with other illegal drugs to increase the potency of the drug, sold as powders and nasal sprays, and increasingly pressed into pills made to look like legitimate prescription opioids.  Because there is no official oversight or quality control, these counterfeit pills often contain lethal doses of fentanyl, with none of the promised drug.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), synthetic opioids (like fentanyl) are the primary driver of overdose deaths in the United States.