Drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, co-founder of the notorious Mexican Sinaloa cartel, and Joaquín Guzmán López, son of El Chapo Guzmán, have been arrested by authorities in the United States, the US Department of Justice reported.
“The Department of Justice has arrested two additional alleged leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world. Ismael Zambada Garcia, or “El Mayo,” co-founder of the Cartel, and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of its other co-founder, were arrested today in El Paso, Texas,” the agency said in a statement.
The Justice Department said the two detainees “face multiple charges in the United States for leading the Cartel’s criminal operations, including its lethal fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks.”
The arrests were first reported by Reuters.
Zambada, 76, founded the Sinaloa Cartel with jailed drug cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and faces a string of drug and organized crime charges in the United States.
It is estimated that around 107,500 people died from overdose in the United States last year, including both U.S. citizens and noncitizens who were in the country at the time of their death, the CDC estimated. That represents a 3% decrease from 2022, when there were about 111,000 deaths, the agency said.
The DEA was offering a $15 million reward for information leading to his whereabouts.
In February, U.S. federal prosecutors charged Zambada with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute fentanyl, which U.S. officials say is the leading cause of death among Americans ages 18 to 45.
[Parte de la información para este reporte provino de Reuters y The Associated Press]
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