Top Sinaloa cartel leaders, including the son of El Chapo, taken into US custody, DOJ says.
Two top leaders of the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel have been taken into custody by United States authorities to face charges for their role in leading the group’s vast drug trafficking enterprise, the Department of Justice announced Thursday.
Sinaloa cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of “El Chapo” Guzman, were placed under arrest in El Paso, Texas on Thursday, according to Attorney General Merrick Garland.
“Both men are facing multiple charges in the United States for leading the Cartel’s criminal operations, including its deadly fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks”, Garland said in a statement.
“El Mayo and Guzman Lopez join a growing list of Sinaloa Cartel leaders and associates who the Justice Department is holding accountable in the United States”, Garland said.
Zambada faces multiple federal indictments for his alleged role in the cartel and has been on the run from U.S. and Mexican law enforcement for years. His fellow co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, El Chapo, was extradited to the U.S. in 2017 and convicted in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison.
“Today, the FBI and DEA arrested two alleged cartel leaders who have eluded law enforcement for decades. Ismael Mario ‘El Mayo’ Zambada García and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of El Chapo, will now face justice in the United States”, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
