Mexican cartel leader known as “El Mayo” pleads not guilty in federal court

MEXICO CITY —  Two of Mexico’s most powerful drug traffickers — one a longtime partner of the Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the other his son — were taken into U.S. custody on Thursday afternoon, a pair of arrests likely to upend the world of international drug trafficking.

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López were detained at a private airport in El Paso, according to two sources familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly about the case.

A lawyer who represents Zambada said his client appeared in federal court in El Paso on Friday morning and pleaded not guilty to drug, money-laundering and weapons charges.

Frank Perez told The Times that his client did not voluntarily fly across the border, as some reports have suggested.

“I have no comment except to state that he did not surrender voluntarily,” Perez said. “He was brought against his will.”

The Justice Department confirmed the arrests in a brief statement Thursday, with Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland saying that “both men are facing multiple charges in the United States for leading the Cartel’s criminal operations, including its deadly fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks.”

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was detained at a private airport in El Paso, according to two sources familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly about the case.

(DEA)

Zambada, 76, faces federal indictments in multiple districts across the United States on charges of trafficking tons of cocaine, fentanyl, heroin and other drugs across the border.

For decades he was business partners with “El Chapo” Guzmán, who is serving a life sentence after a 2019 conviction for his leadership role in the Sinaloa cartel alongside Zambada.

Guzmán López, 38, was elevated within the cartel hierarchy after his father was arrested.

Few details were immediately available about the circumstances of the detentions in El Paso.

Zambada had been wanted by U.S. authorities for many years.

The hunt for the drug lord has intensified in recent years as U.S. authorities have crusaded to combat the trafficking of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that killed 100,000 Americans last year. In February, prosecutors opened a new case against Zambada for the manufacture and trafficking of the drug, which has become the leading cause of death for Americans between 18 and 45 years old.

“He has spent his entire adult life as a major international drug trafficker, yet he has never spent a day in jail,” the U.S. State Department website says.

In 2021, the U.S. government raised its reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Zambada to up to $15 million.

After Guzmán’s arrest, a violent power struggle broke out, with the former kingpin’s sons, who are known as the “Chapitos,” vying with Zambada for control of the Sinaloa cartel.

The Chapitos faced a setback last year when one of Guzmán’s sons, Ovidio, was captured by Mexican authorities and sent to the United States, where he faces drug-trafficking and money-laundering charges.

Guzmán’s arrest followed a notorious 2019 incident in which he was briefly detained at a home in the northern Mexican city of Culiacan, but was later released after cartel gunmen flooded the city and held civilians hostage. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador ordered Guzmán released to avoid more bloodshed.

Three of Zambada’s sons have been prosecuted in the United States, along with his brother, Jesús “El Rey” Zambada, who pleaded guilty to federal drug-trafficking charges and delivered damning testimony against Guzmán during Guzmán’s trial. Testifying as a cooperating witness, he described how his brother and Guzmán formed the Sinaloa cartel and together grew the organization.

“They were partners,” Zambada said on the witness stand.

Ismael Zambada’s son Vicente Zambada Niebla, 49, also testified against Guzmán. He was prosecuted in Chicago and received a 15-year sentence after pleading guilty. He is now believed to be in witness protection.

Another son, Ismael Zambada Imperial, known as “Mayito Gordo,” was extradited from Mexico in 2019 and pleaded guilty to federal charges in San Diego. Believed to be in his late 30s, Zambada Imperial was sentenced to nine years but received credit for time served, and, according to sources familiar with his case, is now residing in the U.S.

The third son who was prosecuted, Serafín Zambada-Ortiz, was sentenced to just over five years in federal prison last year after pleading guilty to drug charges. Zambada-Ortiz, who described a harrowing childhood growing up inside his father’s cartel while pleading for mercy from his judge, was released in September 2018 after receiving credit for time served.

Mexicans welcomed the news. But some lamented that it was U.S. authorities, not their own, who had captured the suspects.

“The day will come when it will be our prosecutor’s office — and not the American one — who will bring the big bosses of this country to justice so that they pay for all the lives they have stolen,” Lilian Chapa Koloffon, a Mexican security analyst, wrote on X.

Hamilton reported from San Francisco and Linthicum from Mexico City.