By Steve Neavling
Two leaders of Mexico’s deadly Sinaloa Cartel, including the son of the notorious crime boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, were arrested by American law enforcement officials, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
Ismael Zambada García, also known as “El Mayo” and co-founder of the cartel, and Joaquín Guzmán López, the son of El Chapo, are among the most powerful drug traffickers in Mexico, sending massive amounts of cocaine and fentanyl to the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere.
The men were indicted in the U.S. and face multiple charges in connection with the cartel and its “deadly fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
“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 said.
In May, Jorge Ivan Gastelum Avila, a high-ranking member of the cartel, was extradited to the U.S. to face charges of international drug trafficking.
Mexican authorities arrested Gastelum Avila and El Chapo as they attempted to flee arrest in January 2016.
El Chapo was extradited to the U.S. in September 2023.
In 2020, the DEA called the Sinaloa Cartel the biggest criminal threat to the U.S.
The arrest of El Mayo “strikes at the heart of the cartel that is responsible for the majority of drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, killing Americans from coast to coast,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement.
“El Mayo is one of DEA’s most wanted fugitives and he is in custody tonight and will soon face justice in a U.S. court of law,” Milgram said.
She added that Lopez’s arrest “is another enormous blow to the Sinaloa Cartel.”
“In 2017, he and his brothers, the Chapitos, allegedly took control of the Sinaloa Cartel after El Chapo was extradited to the United States,” Mulgra said. “DEA will continue to seek justice for any American life that is lost and will work tirelessly to prevent more needless deaths and pursue those that are responsible.”
