Son of 'El Chapo' and Sinaloa Cartel co-founder 'El Mayo' arrested in Texas

Son of ‘El Chapo’ and Sinaloa Cartel co-founder ‘El Mayo’ arrested in Texas. According to three law enforcement officials, detectives think that one of the guys might have tricked the other into boarding a plane for the United States.

Following the unexpected capture of two suspected drug lords from Mexico in Texas, three law enforcement officials indicate that investigators think one of the men may have deceived the other into boarding an aircraft for the United States.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday’s arrests in El Paso of the co-founder of the cartel and the son of jailed Sinaloa Cartel kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, who helped manage the group for three decades.

Both Joaquín Guzmán López and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García, the co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, have been indicted in the United States and are facing “multiple charges” related to the criminal organization based in Mexico, which includes “its deadly fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks,” according to a statement released by Garland.

Authorities are investigating whether Guzmán López deceived “El Mayo” Zambada into boarding the jet that was headed for the United States, according to the three law enforcement sources. The two men were detained and arrested in El Paso after the jet initially traveled to New Mexico.

Authorities flew Guzmán to Chicago, while Zambada stayed in El Paso and is scheduled to appear in federal court on Friday.

According to the sources, one possibility is that Guzmán had made the decision to turn himself in and believed he would be treated better if he brought along a significant other cartel member.

According to Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI and HSI worked together to target the cartel, which resulted in the arrests.

The notorious criminal known as “El Chapo” was apprehended in Mexico, extradited to the United States, and is presently serving a life sentence plus 30 years that was imposed in New York in 2019.

The Drug Enforcement Administration stated in its 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment that the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels “are at the heart” of the synthetic drug epidemic in the United States, which includes fentanyl and methamphetamine.

“Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Justice Department will not rest until every single cartel leader, member, and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable,” Garland stated in the statement.

In January 2023, Ovidio Guzmán López, another son of “El Chapo,” was arrested in Mexico on suspicion of being a cartel boss.

He has since been extradited to the United States to face accusations related to drug trafficking and money laundering. In September, he entered a not guilty plea.

In 2018, Joaquín and Ovidio Guzmán López were accused by a federal grand jury on allegations of conspiring to smuggle cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana into the United States.

The Justice Department announced at the time that Joaquín Guzmán López, Ovidio Guzmán López, and two additional sons of “El Chapo” were also indicted by a federal grand jury last year.

Iván Guzman Salazar and Alfredo Guzman Salazar, the other two sons, are still at large. According to federal officials, the four sons, dubbed the “Chapitos,” inherited their father’s drug-trafficking networks and his cartel faction.

The four sons ran “Los Chapitos,” one of the four criminal groups that make up the Sinaloa Cartel, according to the DEA.

According to the DEA’s 2024 report, the brothers encouraged the cartel to make fentanyl a bigger part of their operations.

Also Read:-