Photo: Media at a private airport in Dona Ana County, New Mexico, where a plane carrying drug lord Ismael “El Mao” Zambada and Joaquin Guzman Lopez is seen on the runway, July 25, 2024.
U.S. authorities arrested Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel leader Ismael “El Mao” Zambada on Thursday, July 25. and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of another notorious cartel leader, Joaquin Guzman, nicknamed “El Chapo.”
The Justice Department reported this.
As reported by the Associated Press, Zambada is one of the world's most notorious drug traffickers, who has long run the cartel's smuggling operations while remaining under the radar.
This collection of images provided by the U.S. State Department shows Ismael “El Mao” Zambada, leader of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, left, and Joaquin Guzman Lopez after they were arrested by U.S. authorities in Texas on July 25, 2024.
A Mexican federal official told the agency that Zambada and Guzman Lopez traveled to the United States on a private jet before being arrested. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter.
The U.S. government had previously offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the capture of Sambada, who has eluded authorities for decades.
Sambada and Guzman Lopez oversaw the trafficking of “tens of thousands of pounds of drugs into the United States and coordinated related violence,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said, adding that they “will now face justice in the United States.”
Mexican authorities have not yet commented on the arrests.
Prepared by: Sergey Daga