The capture of Sinaloa cartel leaders Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López were a historic coup for U.S. agents against a syndicate that’s flooded the United States with fentanyl.
By Mary Beth Sheridan and Nick Miroff | THE WASHINGTON POST
MEXICO CITY — Mexico wasn’t informed of the secret U.S. operation to whisk two Sinaloa cartel leaders to Texas until after the men were taken into custody, the country’s top security official said Friday.
The arrests Thursday of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López were a historic coup for U.S. agents pursuing a drug syndicate that has flooded the United States with fentanyl.
Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez told reporters Friday that a small Cessna airplane carrying Zambada, 76, and Guzmán, about 37, took off from Hermosillo airport in northern Sonora state just before 8 a.m. Thursday and landed at around 10 a.m. in El Paso, where the men were promptly arrested.
The U.S. Embassy didn’t notify Mexican authorities of the operation until 3:30 p.m. local time, Rodríguez said. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador wasn’t informed until 4:14 p.m.
U.S. authorities have not said why they kept the plan from their Mexican counterparts. But U.S. anti-drug operations have been foiled in recent years by leaks from Mexican officials, leaving Washington wary.
“We are awaiting official communication on whether what happened yesterday was a capture or surrender,” Rodríguez said during López Obrador’s daily news conference. “This is part of what the U.S. government must tell us.”
Zambada, a co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, was fooled into boarding the U.S.-bound private plane with Guzmán, a son of imprisoned cartel co-founder Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, according to a Department of Homeland Security official. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive operation.
Zambada and the elder Guzmán, who is serving a sentence of life plus 30 years in the federal supermax prison in Florence, Colo., jointly led one of the world’s most prolific drug cartels. The Sinaloa federation exported tons of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and other drugs and is credited with building the fentanyl business. The Biden administration has targeted the cartel as it tries to combat the most deadly drug epidemic in history.
The operation to bring the traffickers to the United States was so secret that their names were kept off the flight manifest filed shortly before the plane took off, Rodríguez said. The plan named only the pilot, Larry Curtis Parker, she said. He was listed in migration records as a visitor to the country, and wasn’t registered as a U.S. Embassy employee or U.S. government agent.
Zambada was scheduled to appear in federal court in El Paso at 8 a.m. Friday, represented by Dallas attorney Frank Perez. His case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone, according to court records. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Zambada and the elder Guzmán were indicted in El Paso with 22 other high-ranking Sinaloa Cartel members in 2012. Zambada was charged with being part of a conspiracy to traffic cocaine and marijuana into the United States, launder money and murder perceived enemies.
The younger Guzmán was set to make his first court appearance in Chicago on Saturday, U.S. officials said. He is to be represented by one of the attorneys who defended his father, at El Chapo’s narcotics trial in Brooklyn in 2019. “I’ve got no comment other than to confirm I represent Joaquin and will be in court for him at his initial appearance,” attorney Jeffrey Lichtman said.
Rodríguez was peppered by reporters Friday on why Mexico wasn’t told in advance about such a critical operation. Zambada also faces arrest warrants in Mexico.
Rodríguez insisted that cooperation with Washington against the illegal drug trade is strong.
“We are going to continue cooperating with the U.S. government, as we have done up until this event,” she said.
Miroff reported from Washington. Lorena Rios in Monterrey, Mexico, contributed to this report.
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