US Federal agents arrested the top boss of the Mexican Sinaloa cartel Ismael El Mayo Zambada and his partner El Chapo’s son, Joachim Guzman Lopez.
It’s a big win for the United States in its fight against Mexico’s drug cartels. Zambada, who is 76-years old, set up the Sinaloa cartel along with El Chapo, who is currently serving a life sentence in a high security prison in the United States.
Lopez is one of El Chapo’s four sons who ran the cartel after his father’s extradition. The two were arrested when a private plane they were on landed in Texas.
In a statement, the DEA said “The arrest strikes at the heart of the cartel that is responsible for the majority of drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, killing Americans from coast to coast.”
The New York Times reported that Zambada was tricked into boarding the private plane. He was told he would be surveying land in the south of Mexico. Instead, the plane flew to the north and landed at an airfield in El Paso, Texas where federal officials were waiting.
In a written statement, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said the two men lead “one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organisations in the world.”
There was a $15 million reward on El Mayo and a $5 million bounty on El Chapo’s son.
The Sinaloa cartel is believed to be the biggest supplier of drugs into the States. US prosecutors have alleged that the Sinaloa cartel is the biggest supplier of fentanyl in the country.
Fentanyl is the leading cause of death in the 18-45 age group. Besides fentanyl charges, Zambada also faces a number of charges related to drug trafficking, murder, kidnapping, money laundering and organised crime.
