planet Sinaloa drug cartel chief "El Mayo" says in letter he was "kidnapped and forcibly introduced to your U.S."
The nation’s drug kingpins have very long experienced affect inside of all amounts of the Mexican government, reputedly bribing governors and also total law enforcement forces to search the other way.
But in the end, U.S. officials mentioned, he was betrayed by an unlikely foe: a son of his closest prison ally, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the notorious drug lord referred to as El Chapo, who is now serving a existence sentence in an American federal jail.
Zambada is charged in a number of U.S. conditions, which includes in New York and California. Prosecutors introduced a whole new indictment from him in The big apple in February, describing him because the “principal chief from the criminal company liable for importing massive portions of narcotics into The usa.”
amongst his Lawyers, Frank Perez, Formerly has alleged his customer was kidnapped by Guzmán López and brought towards the U.S. aboard A non-public aircraft. Guzmán López, 38, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to drug trafficking and other charges in federal court in Chicago. linked protection
“as being the co-founder and ismael el mayo zambada donde esta present-day chief of the most important, strongest drug trafficking organization in the world, Ismael Zambada Garcia is accused of supplying fentanyl to the United States at a time once the lethal narcotic has claimed life in a devastating amount. for many years, the ruthlessly violent Sinaloa Cartel has continued its deadly scourge With all the pervasive trafficking of fentanyl, copyright, heroin, methamphetamine, together with other artificial drugs to the U.
He was lured to the US as A part of an elaborate sting operation, masterminded from the son of his former husband or wife, El Chapo. Joaquin Guzman Lopez, among the list of heirs to El Chapo’s operation, was arrested alongside Zambada possessing led him to believe he was travelling to northern Mexico to look at potential Homes for clandestine airstrips.
Zambada’s detention follows some vital arrests of other Sinaloa cartel figures, including one among his sons and A different son of “El Chapo” Guzmán, Ovidio Guzmán López. Zambada’s son pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court docket in San Diego in 2021 to currently being a frontrunner in the Sinaloa cartel.
The cartel leader wrote within the letter that he didn't destroy Héctor Cuen, the former Federal congressman and mayor of Culiacan, who was with the meeting.
Zambada has actually been billed in quite a few U.S. conditions, which include one particular filed in February from the jap District of Big apple accusing him of conspiring to manufacture and distribute fentanyl. Prosecutors explained he led “Just about the most violent and strong drug trafficking companies on earth.”
as soon as targeted totally on marijuana and copyright, the cartel has diversified through the years to meet buyer desire. in conjunction with fentanyl, it also smuggles Mexican-produced methamphetamine, heroin created from Mexican-grown opium poppies and smaller amounts of lower-grade marijuana for elements of the U.S. where pot has not been legalized.
"He shook every one of the arms with the legislation enforcement," stated the pilot, who questioned his name be withheld from fear of retribution by organized crime. The man he later on recognized being Zambada "remained on board. clearly, he came out afterwards and was calmly taken into custody."
S. airspace. Sprawling twin plants lay amongst the border fence plus the airport, warehouses and factories connected to industrial production in Ciudad Juárez over the border.
facts of Zambada and Guzmán López's arrests are mysterious presently. next February's indictment, the DOJ was featuring as many as a $15 million award for any person with information that resulted in Zambada's seize.