US arrests Mexican drug lord 'El Mayo' and son of El Chapo in Texas By Reuters

Written by Drazen Jorgic

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican drug kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and the son of a former associate, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, were arrested on Thursday in El Paso, Texas, in a major coup against US authorities. and reshape Mexico's criminal landscape.

Zambada is one of the most successful traffickers in Mexican history and co-founded the Sinaloa Cartel with El Chapo, who was extradited to the United States in 2017 and is serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison.

Both Zambada and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of El Chapo, are facing multiple charges in the US for putting many drugs on US streets, including fentanyl, which has become the leading cause of death in Americans between the ages of 18 and 45.

Zambada, believed to be in his 70s, and Guzman Lopez, in his 30s, were arrested after boarding a private plane in the El Paso area, two US officials told Reuters.

Guzman Lopez is one of El Chapo's four sons — known as Los Chapitos, or the Little Chapos — who inherited their father's Sinaloa Cartel. His brother, Ovidio Guzman, was arrested last year and extradited to the United States.

In recent years, the Sinaloa Cartel has become a major target for US authorities, who have accused the criminal organization of being the largest supplier of fentanyl to the United States.

Zambada and Guzman Lopez face multiple charges in the US for “leading Cartel crimes, including deadly fentanyl-producing networks,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

The arrest of Guzman Lopez was first reported by Reuters, before a statement from the Department of Justice confirmed that they were arrested in El Paso.

Another employee at Santa Teresa Airport, near El Paso, on Thursday afternoon told Reuters that he saw the Beechcraft King Air on the runway, where federal agents were already waiting.

“Two people got off the plane… they were arrested calmly,” said the man, who refused to give his name because he was worried about his safety.

“It seemed like a calm, orderly thing,” he added.

US authorities had a $15 million reward for Zambada's capture, and Guzman Lopez had a $5 million bounty on his head.

The Sinaloa cartel traffics drugs to more than 50 countries around the world and is one of the two most powerful organized crime groups in Mexico, according to US authorities.

The sons of Zambada and El Chapo come from two different generations of smugglers, with different styles.

Zambada is known for being an “old school” narco, avoiding the limelight and working in the shadows. El Chapo's sons, by contrast, have a reputation for being flashy narcos who loved attention as they rose through the ranks of the cartel.

El Chapo's sons were also known to be more violent and hot-headed than Zambada, who had a reputation for being a shrewd operator.

Zambada's sons and El Chapo have had a strained relationship since their father was extradited in 2017, and the arrest of Zambada and Guzman Lopez may cause instability or even violence in their heartlands in the northern Sinaloa region.

The earlier arrests of key cartel leaders fueled violence as power vacuums opened up, leading to intense fighting within the organizations and between them and their rivals.

“This is a very big possibility,” said Vanda (NASDAQ: ) Felbab-Brown, a researcher at Washington's Brookings Institution who closely monitors Mexican securities.

Their arrests were part of a joint operation between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), HSI said in a statement.

Last year the US authorities introduced new charges against the sons of Zambada and Guzman on new charges in the United States focused on the trafficking of fentanyl, and the flow of the former chemical from the illegal labs used by their criminal organization.

Over the past decades, the cartel has developed sophisticated supply chains to transport drugs around the world and obtain highly controlled chemicals from its home in Sinaloa.

Earlier on Thursday, Reuters published an investigation that revealed that fentanyl precursor chemicals are surprisingly easy and cheap to buy online from Chinese door-to-door sellers in North America.

“Fentanyl is the most dangerous drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Department of Justice will not rest until every leader, member, and associate responsible for feeding our communities is held accountable,” added Garland.