In a significant blow to one of the world’s most powerful drug trafficking organizations, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, has been arrested by US federal agents in El Paso, Texas.
Zambada, 76, was taken into custody on Thursday along with Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of notorious drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who is currently serving a life sentence in a US prison.
The arrest comes after Zambada was charged by US prosecutors in February with a conspiracy to manufacture and distribute fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid that has been linked to thousands of deaths in the US.
According to US Attorney General Merrick Garland, Zambada and Guzman Lopez are leaders of “one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world”.
The Sinaloa cartel, which Zambada co-founded with El Chapo, is accused of being the largest supplier of drugs to the US, with fentanyl being a major contributor to the country’s opioid crisis.
Garland vowed that the Justice Department would continue to hold accountable every member and associate of the Sinaloa cartel responsible for the fentanyl epidemic.
The arrest marks a significant milestone in the US government’s efforts to dismantle the Sinaloa cartel and disrupt the flow of fentanyl into the country.
