Two Mexican drug kingpin including the son of notorious cartel boss El Chapo, have been arrested and are in US custody.
Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada, the co-founder of the Sinaloa drug cartel, and Joaquín Guzmán López surrendered to American law enforcement on Thursday.
Zambada founded the Sinaloa Cartel along with now-jailed drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman, and he faces a litany of indictments for crimes relating to drug trafficking and organized crime in the US.
Attorney-General Merrick Garland called the cartel one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world as he detailed the arrests.
‘El Mayo and Guzmán López join a growing list of Sinaloa Cartel leaders and associates whom the Justice Department is holding accountable in the US,’ he said.
Garland said others from the cartel now behind bars included El Chapo and another of his sons and alleged leader of the Cartel, Ovidio Guzmán López.
The alleged main hitman of the cartel, Néstor Isidro ‘El Nini’ Pérez Salas, was also in American custody, he said.
With ‘El Chapo’ [right] locked up in New York City jail and expected to spend the rest of his life behind bars, 70-year-old ‘El Mayo’ [left] has led the Sinaloa Cartel’s day-to-day operations while battling diabetes
American federal prosecutors in February charged Zambada with conspiracy to make and distribute fentanyl, but he has never been behind bars.
Joaquín Guzmán Lopez is one of El Chapo’s sons and was elevated to the cartel’s top leadership in 2017 when his father was extradited to the US.
His brother Ovidio Guzmán López was also arrested in Mexico, and extradited to the US in September to face his own long list of charges.
Garland said fentanyl was the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45.
‘The Department of Justice will not rest until every leader, member, and associate of the cartels responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable,’ he said.
More to come.
