Powerful cartel leader lured onto airplane before arrest

WASHINGTON (AP):

A powerful Mexican drug cartel leader who eluded authorities for decades was duped into flying into the US, where he was arrested alongside a son of Joaquín “El Chapo’ Guzmán, according to a US law enforcement official familiar with the matter.

Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada got on an airplane to the US believing he was going somewhere else, said the official, who spoke on the condition on anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter. The official did not provide additional details, including who persuaded Zambada to get on the plane or where exactly he thought he was going.

Upon arriving in the El Paso area, Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López, a son of notorious drug kingpin ‘El Chapo’, who was sentenced to life in a US prison in 2019, were immediately taken into custody by US authorities, officials said.

Zambada, one of the most powerful drug lords in the world, has been a key target for the US government for years in its bid to take down leaders of the Sinaloa cartel that’s responsible for trafficking huge sums of drugs across the border. US authorities had offered a reward of up to US$15 million for information leading to his capture.

Zambada’s arrest “strikes at the heart of the cartel that is responsible for the majority of drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, killing Americans from coast to coast,” said US Drug Enforcement Administration chief Anne Milgram.

“Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Justice Department will not rest until every single cartel leader, member, and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Thursday evening.

A lawyer listed for Zambada did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Friday.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Friday that Mexico was still awaiting details about the arrest of the men and was not involved in the operation. He hailed the arrests, though he suggested others could step in to fill the vacuum. That’s why his administration has focused on addressing the root causes of drug use and the associated violence, he said.