A leader and co-founder of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel is in U.S. custody thanks to a stunning betrayal by one of the sons of imprisoned Mexican kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, a source told CBS News. The arrest of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada ended more than four decades of his leadership of the deadly criminal organization he founded with Guzmán Loera, who is serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison in Colorado after being convicted in 2019 of charges including drug trafficking, money laundering and weapons-related offenses.
One of El Chapo’s sons, Joaquín Guzmán López, 38, allegedly duped Zambada into boarding a plane on Thursday, telling him they were going to look at property in Mexico, a person familiar with the investigation confirmed to CBS News. Instead, the plane landed near El Paso, Texas, where Zambada, 76, was arrested by U.S. law enforcement agents from the FBI and HSI. Both men were taken into custody on the tarmac. The flight and subsequent landing happened “very quickly and very quietly” with no incident once the men exited the plane, a senior law enforcement official confirmed to CBS News.
Joaquín Guzmán López, who is known for running cartel finances while keeping a low profile, cut a deal on behalf of him and his brother Ovidio Guzmán López, a senior law enforcement official confirmed to CBS News. Three sons of Guzmán Loera —including Ovidio— were charged last year with orchestrating a transnational fentanyl trafficking operation into the United States. Ovidio was extradited to the U.S. in 2023, months after U.S. prosecutors unsealed sprawling indictments against him and his brothers, known collectively as the “Chapitos.”
The Sinaloa Cartel runs “the largest, most violent and most prolific fentanyl trafficking operation in the world,” according to U.S. officials. El Chapo is said to have 12 children, but the Chapitos ran an extremely violent offshoot of the cartel known for its brutal torture of rivals. Some of their victims were “fed dead or alive to tigers,” according to a federal indictment. Ovidio Guzmán López, known as “the Mouse,” was captured by Mexican security forces in Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa state, in January 2023 in a violent sting that killed 30 people.
Bureau of Prisons inmate records show Ovidio Guzmán López was apparently removed from his detention center three days ago, but a spokesperson from the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed to CBS News that Ovidio remained in custody.
The joint DHS-FBI operation to capture Zambada had been in the works for months; him and Joaquín Guzmán López were taken into custody by some of the same agents working on Ovidio Guzmán López’s case, a senior law enforcement official confirmed to CBS News. A senior law enforcement official described the arrests to CBS News as a “let’s see if this works” kind of operation that sprung into motion in recent days, though planning had been going on for far longer.
Zambada and “El Chapo” partnered in the late 1980s to super charge their cocaine and marijuana smuggling operations. After “El Chapo” was captured in 2016, Zambada became the most senior leader of the Sinaloa Cartel and became known for his extraordinary ability to avoid capture.
Comment: Good. I’d like to see a lot more of this. Actually, I’d like to see a lot more of something darker and not quite so neat and photogenic. A BBC article on the capture offers more details about the how and why of this operation and offers a more realistic view of what this means. We need to put a lot more hurt on a lot more bad hombres. Putting a little hurt on some bankers should be part of this. Colonel Lang suggested waging a covert and clandestine war on the cartels under the authority of an intelligence finding. That’s a much better idea than an occasional capture operation.
TTG
A real achievement long overdue – arrest of a notorious, internationally wanted criminal.
Unfortunately the US Congress just hosted one of the worst criminals of all time and gave him 58 standing ovations rather than arresting him for crimes against humanity. The UK under Starmer has now dropped its objections to the ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu … Yes, now Israel’s leader stands to be arrested if he steps on UK soil. I am surprised but gladdened. The handwriting is on the wall. When will the US read it?
Cut & paste translation of recent Telegram post this morning. It’s interesting to ask if this is why Britain is out in front of the United States on the topic of the Gaza atrocities. I don’t know but it’s interesting especially in light of the recent and ongoing ethnic pogroms in Leeds and elsewhere.
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https://t.me/malekdudakov/7342
Wilayat of Scotland . The deserted islands around Scotland could soon become a new gathering point for Islamists. Sheikh Yasser al-Habib, a radical Shiite cleric, is raising £3.5 million to buy Torsa Island off the west coast of Scotland.
He is going to create his own school, mosque and hospital there, and live according to Sharia law . In fact, we are talking about the formation of an Islamist state within Britain itself. Now such Sharia enclaves already exist in areas where migrants gather in large cities.
But then the whole island will completely come under the control of the Islamists . Well, they will attract radicals from all over the world. Al-Habib fled to Britain from Kuwait, where they sought his arrest. In his new homeland, he launched a satellite channel, Fadak TV, to conduct Islamist propaganda. And he even made films for various festivals.
The police had been spying on him for a long time , and politicians called for the arrest of the preacher – but to no avail. Well, now it is quite possible that the Scottish National Party, for the sake of tolerance, will allow him to buy out the entire island . They were already thinking of transporting refugees from Gaza en masse. And al-Habib organized pro-Palestinian rallies.
The culture wars in Britain are currently raging. Right and left are rioting in the streets . Diasporas organize ethnic pogroms. A separate scandal in Manchester – here the police beat the migrants who attacked them . Now they are demanding that the police be fired and imprisoned. Or it will be against the backdrop of a multimillion-dollar influx of “new Englishmen” from the former colonies .
UK is out in front ’cause they just got past their election. Replacement Theory is a virus & few on the far-out right believe in vaccines… maybe they prefer the disease.
Hi ttg,the fonts have shrunk in the comment box.
They are funny now
mcohen,
Don’t see an issue on my end.
A Palestinian state in scotland is great news.Wonder if they will wear kilts.
TTG
Agree; Zambada’s arrest is a win for DEA and the American people in general. The ‘betrayal’ technique is far superior to playing cop’s and robber’s as you suggest as it breaks the code of honour amongst criminals (omerta) and will allow them to eat themselves from the inside if that not photogenic enough for you. Remember what happened to the Mafia in the USA in the 60’s-80’s!
Maybe the USA should also look at the supply and demand component of this illegal trade, after all it’s a type of capitalism.
I would also like to second F&L’s comment about Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu being applauded by many USA government representatives. It’s the most disgusting thing I have ever heard of and a truly despicable act to prostrate before a leader intent on genocide of the indigenous people of that land. Then again, what happened to Americas indigenous people? But that is in the past and cannot be reversed and in some cases amends have been made. Many Americans support Israel through puritanical religious beliefs and it would be a hard row to hoe for this attitude to be abandoned although it will happen eventually.
For readers who think the above comments are rabid anti-American from some South- seas islands sanctimonious prick then you are completely wrong. I have visited the USA many time times, have enjoyed your country, it’s exceptionally friendly people and have many good friends there. My extreme disappointment with the USA today would be like finding out that a good friend or family member has succumbed to addiction, whether this be the bottle or the pill box. What to do? How to help? How did you get like this?
rw
I suspect El Chapo’s kids were leery of their inheritance but one of them seems to have felt he had no choice but to play along. It appears an LE officer was perceptive and skilled enough to exploit that, and that kid has earned himself witness protection. A new life of mediocrity, but less nasty, brutish, and short, and his own kids have a chance at complete freedom.
I have a caveat on my opinion on the Col’s war against the cartels idea. Sure we could do it but the money is so great in that biz there’s a never-ending line of replacements. Legalization would yank the carpet out, as it did for the mobs in Prohibition. If we can’t do that, as appears to be the reality of the situation? Then I agree. I would like to have the proper fix a matter of public debate first though.
Zambada and El Chapo are just the latest arrests.
Nestor Hugo Gomez-Garcia from Columbia was arrested late last year. He was supplying cocaine via self-propelled semi-submersible submarines from Colombia into the Pacific Ocean destined for Sinaloa Cartel members in Oaxaca, Mexico.
https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2023/12/21/leader-colombian-criminal-organization-pleads-guilty-sending-over-19000
Another criminal cocaine gang leader, Dairo Antonio Úsuga AKA Otoniel, was arrested in Columbia in 2021 and extradited to the States last year. He has been described as “the most significant Colombian narcotics trafficker since Pablo Escobar”.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/leader-violent-clan-del-golfo-multi-billion-dollar-drug-trafficking-organization
In May of this year the top honcho of hundreds of sicarios in the Sinaloa Cartel, Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas AKA El Nini, was extradited to the States. He was the leader of Los Ninis, a group that attacked civilian, government and military targets in October 2019 at the ‘Culiacanazo’ and forced the Guardia Nacional to release Ovidio Guzman after his first capture. El Nini’s troops “were well-equipped, with improvised armored vehicles, bulletproof vests, .50 caliber (12.7 mm) rifles, rocket launchers, grenade launchers and heavy machine guns.”
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/alleged-sinaloa-cartel-leader-and-lead-assassin-extradited-mexico-united-states-drug
Two nephews of Rafael Caro Quintero, one of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives, are now in US custody: Ismael Quintero Arellanes & Rodrigo Omar Paez Quintero. Their uncle is pending extradition to the States. He is one of the founders of the Guadalajara cartel and is accused of kidnapping, torturing, and murdering DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena and other Americans ~40 years ago.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/top-lieutenant-and-head-security-rafael-caro-quintero-extradited-mexico-face-narcotics
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/lead-defendant-long-running-drug-trafficking-conspiracy-extradited-united-states-mexico
Alexander Valencia Garcia, leader of a multi-million dollar cocaine conspiracy was arrested in Florida last November.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/five-colombian-nationals-arrested-international-cocaine-distribution
There are more, too many to list.
The DOJ’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) seems to be coordinating all these recent arrests and extraditions. New acting Director Thomas Padden is doing a great job. It’s a multi-agency group that includes not only the DEA, ATF, FBI, US Marshals of the DOJ but has been expanded recently and now involves ICE, USCG, USSS, IRS:CI, USPS, DoL & DoS as well as state & local LEOs.
But TTG is right. Need more focus on money laundering at banks and elsewhere to follow the money. The IRS Criminal Investigation unit though needs more agents. They are hiring. They need more support from DoT’s Financial Crimes division.
Crypto is a big facilitator of these sorts of criminal activities. (But so is cash). Trump just said he would make the US a “crypto superpower” if elected.
Election time cash up.
Some South America specialists say that the Italians and Chinese (to some extent) are providing most of the financial services to the trade right now.
Given Italian and Chinese records, “putting hurt on bankers” probably won’t happen often.
On a totally different subject: gourmet eating.
I just ran across (on the web) a really impressive-sounding (with equally impressive prices) restaurant about an hour from you:
Bookbinder’s Seafood & Steakhouse https://g.co/kgs/Afs16sP
Wonder if you have ever heard of it, and perhaps taken the plunge and tried it 🙂 ?
Keith Harbaugh,
I’ve passed the place often, but never thought of eating there. Too high end for me. My “go to” place in Richmond is ZZQ. All their meats and sides are amazing. The first sausage I tried there years ago was a true religious experience. For the last two years, My son brought up a smoked turkey breast for Thanksgiving. Both the staff and the crowd are just good people to be around.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXSVZdjGf0w
@TTG
If you happened to find a sausage a “true religious experience” I suggest you give a try to Bookbinder’s, if they they live up to their impressive menu you will be surprised.
Long ago I went to a few Michelin 3 stars and high end cuisine is truly another world, no matter how good cooking you are used to.
Not too far from me, and prices are not too bad, but I tend not to trust places that try to specialize with multiple items, in this case seafood and steak. Generally a place does one well, not the other, or fails on both ends.
If I want to spend on a steak for a very special occasion I go to Morton’s. Excellent steaks every time. Last time I took someone out there, with tip it was around $200, so has to be a really special event.
Stefan, a suggestion:
give them a shot and let us know how it was.
I would do that but I am no longer capable of traveling.