how they were captured – The Time

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the longtime leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, and Joaquín Guzmán López, the son of the cartel’s other infamous leader, El Chapo, were arrested by U.S. authorities in Texas on Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice said. The leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel for decades alongside Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, Zambada is one of the world’s most notorious drug traffickers, known for running the cartel’s smuggling operations from a low profile. A Mexican federal official told The Associated Press that Zambada and Guzmán López arrived in the United States on a private plane and turned themselves in to authorities. The U.S. government had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the capture of Zambada, who has eluded authorities for decades. Zambada and Guzmán López oversaw the trafficking of “tens of thousands of pounds of drugs into the United States, along with the associated violence,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said, adding that they will now “face justice in the United States.”

“Fentanyl is the deadliest threat our country has ever faced, and the Department of Justice will not rest until every cartel leader, member and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. U.S. officials have been trying for years to capture Zambada, who has been charged in multiple cases in the United States. One of Mexico’s longest-serving cartel leaders, Zambada was seen as the cartel’s master strategist, more involved in day-to-day operations than its more visible and well-known leader, “El Chapo” Guzmán, who was sentenced to life in prison in the United States in 2019 and is the father of Guzmán López. Zambada is an old-fashioned capo in an era of young kingpins known for their flamboyant style, clubbing and brutal tactics of beheading, dismembering and even flaying their rivals. Zambada is known for focusing on the business side of the trade and avoiding the cartel’s gruesome violence, which would have drawn the attention of authorities.

In an April 2010 interview with Mexican magazine Proceso, he admitted that he lives in constant fear of going to prison and contemplates suicide rather than being caught. “I’m terrified of being incarcerated,” Zambada said. “I like to think that, yes, I would kill myself.” Zambada is believed to have earned the loyalty of locals in his home state of Sinaloa and neighboring Durango through his generosity, sponsoring local farmers and handing out money and beer in his hometown of El Alamo. Although not much is known about his life, he is believed to have started working as an enforcer in the 1970s. He went on to become one of the most feared crime bosses in the world.