The lawyer representing captured drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada refuted claims that his shopper had been tricked into boarding a aircraft sure for the USA to be arrested on Thursday, alleging that he had as a substitute been “forcibly kidnapped” by a son of the notorious Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera.
Zambada, 76, was arrested after arriving at a small airport close to El Paso, together with Joaquin Guzman Lopez, a 38-year-old son of El Chapo, who co-founded the Sinaloa cartel with Zambada.
The lawyer, Frank Perez, rejected stories that Zambada, who has pleaded not responsible to a variety of drug trafficking, weapons and cash laundering prices, had turned himself in or had been tricked into boarding the aircraft.
“My shopper didn’t give up or negotiate any phrases with the U.S. authorities. Joaquín Guzmán López kidnapped my shopper by pressure,” Pérez stated in a press release first reported by The Instances. “He was ambushed, thrown to the bottom and handcuffed by six males in navy uniforms and Joaquín. They tied his legs and positioned a black bag over his head. He was then thrown into the again of a pickup truck and brought to a touchdown strip. There, he was compelled onto a aircraft, his legs had been tied to the seat by Joaquín, and he was delivered to the USA in opposition to his will.”
Perez stated the one individuals on the aircraft had been “the pilot, Joaquin and my shopper.”
Guzman Lopez faces federal prices in Chicago and Washington, D.C., for drug trafficking and his position as a frontrunner within the Sinaloa cartel. Courtroom data don’t present he has entered any pleas. His lawyer didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
A spokesman for the U.S. Justice Division declined to remark in response to a query about Perez’s assertion or Guzman Lopez’s standing.
Sources acquainted with the scenario who weren’t approved to talk publicly concerning the arrests beforehand advised The Instances that Zambada had one way or the other been tricked into boarding the aircraft that introduced him to American soil.
“An epic, once-in-a-lifetime prank,” a legislation enforcement supply working in Mexico stated of Zambada’s arrest. “The previous man was arrange.”
In response to Pérez, who spoke briefly to The Instances after issuing the assertion, Zambada was tricked into a gathering with Guzmán López, a frontrunner of the cartel faction generally known as Los Chapitos.
Zambada, recognized for his elusiveness after greater than 4 many years on the run with out being captured, traveled with a comparatively mild safety element, Perez stated.
Caught without warning, Zambada was overpowered, the lawyer stated.
A number of legislation enforcement sources have stated the hassle that led to Zambada’s seize was led by the FBI and Homeland Safety Investigations. It’s unclear to what extent U.S. businesses had been concerned in orchestrating the flight carrying the 2 males, or within the alleged kidnapping, if true.
Mexican authorities weren’t concerned, officers there stated.
“You ask if it was a rendition, if it was a seize,” Rosa Icela Rodriguez, Mexico’s safety secretary, advised reporters this week. “That’s a part of the investigation and a part of the knowledge that we might count on from the USA authorities.”
Zambada is a residing legend within the Mexican drug commerce, having constructed the Sinaloa cartel right into a multibillion-dollar empire that ships cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl and different illicit medication all over the world. America had provided a $15 million reward for his seize, and senior U.S. officers hailed his arrest this week as a large coup. President Biden stated it could assist “save American lives.”
However precisely how U.S. officers carried out the arrests has remained the topic of rumor, hypothesis and conflicting stories. One model, reported by the Wall Road Journal, stated Zambada had been lured onto the aircraft hoping to examine clandestine airstrips. Others alleged the ruse was an elaborate cowl story and that Zambada had secretly turned himself in with the promise of assembly a son, Vicente Zambada Niebla, who testified in opposition to El Chapo and is now believed to be in witness safety.
If Perez’s statements are true, Zambada’s seize would characterize a large betrayal by Guzman Lopez, who may obtain leniency from U.S. authorities after handing over one of the vital wished fugitives on the planet.
Guzman Lopez’s brother, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, 34, was extradited from Mexico final yr and pleaded not responsible to prices that he was one of many leaders of Los Chapitos. He has been jailed in Chicago, the place his case is pending.
His father, Guzman Loera, is serving a life sentence in a U.S. federal jail following a 2019 conviction. Housed in an remoted facility dubbed the “Alcatraz of the Rockies,” he’s below strict safety measures that restrict his contact with the skin world.
Some observers famous that Federal Bureau of Prisons data point out Ovidio Guzmán López was “launched” on July 23, simply two days earlier than the arrests, fueling hypothesis that there was advance discover of a plot together with his brother to show over Zambada.
A Justice Division spokesman stated in an electronic mail Friday: “Ovidio Guzmán López stays in U.S. custody.”
Courtroom data present Ovidio Guzman Lopez is scheduled to look in courtroom on Sept. 30. A supply acquainted with his case, who was not approved to talk publicly, stated he had been moved into protecting custody, not launched.
The Guzmán and Zambada households have lengthy been intertwined, by enterprise partnerships and household ties. Zambada’s son, Zambada Niebla, 49, generally known as “El Vicentillo,” steadily referred to El Chapo as his “compadre” throughout his dramatic 2019 trial testimony, describing how the 2 cartel leaders had blessed his determination to desert drug trafficking and search a take care of U.S. authorities.
Zambada Niebla was additionally represented by Pérez, his father’s lawyer.
Two extra of Zambada’s sons have confronted justice in the USA, alongside together with his brother, Jesus “El Rey” Zambada, who additionally testified in opposition to El Chapo.
“They had been companions,” Jesus Zambada stated of the cartel leaders on the witness stand, recounting how he and his brother had agreed to ship a helicopter to rescue El Chapo after his escape from a high-security jail in Mexico in 2001.
Though armed teams claiming allegiance to Zambada have engaged in wars in opposition to rival cartels elsewhere in Mexico, the Pacific coast state of Sinaloa has been comparatively quiet lately, a peace some have attributed to Zambada brokering truces and attempting to keep away from bloodshed in his personal yard.
Nevertheless, there have been occasional flare-ups of violence, together with in 2019 after El Chapo’s son Ovidio was first captured. That incident noticed gunmen flood the streets of the state capital, Culiacán, and have interaction in shootouts with Mexican safety forces. Ovidio, generally known as “El Ratón,” was finally launched and recaptured in January 2023 by Mexican authorities.
In its 2024 Nationwide Drug Menace Evaluation, The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration described “inner energy struggles and shifting alliances” on the high of the cartel.
“The Sinaloa Cartel doesn’t have a frontrunner. As an alternative, the cartel ‘umbrella’ covers 4 separate however cooperating felony organizations,” the DEA stated. “This construction theoretically provides the heads of unbiased drug trafficking teams the power to share assets – akin to smuggling routes, corrupt contacts, entry to illicit chemical suppliers, and cash laundering networks – with out sharing earnings or having to reply to a principal chain of command.”
One other of Zambada’s sons, Ismael Zambada-Sicairos, born in 1982 and generally known as “Mayito Flaco,” is at the moment a fugitive in Mexico, wished by the DEA for his alleged management position in his father’s operation.
The elder Zambada is believed to be ill; U.S. authorities have beforehand stated he suffers from diabetes. Pictures launched after his seize present him gaunt and glowering on the digicam, with darkish hair and a mustache. Transcripts made public after his preliminary courtroom look Friday say he sat in a wheelchair for a part of the proceedings.
Miguel Ángel Vega, a journalist who covers organized crime for the Sinaloa newspaper Ríodoce, stated the state is on edge and lots of concern violence may get away at any second.
“There may be stress proper now,” Vega stated. “Everyone seems to be ready for one thing to occur. Clearly, there may be concern.”
In his solely public interview, Zambada advised Mexican journal Proceso in 2010 what he predicted would occur if he was someday killed or captured.
“After just a few days, we might see that nothing had modified,” he stated. “The drug drawback includes thousands and thousands. If the bosses are jailed or killed, their replacements are already ready.”
Instances workers author Kate Linthicum in Mexico Metropolis contributed to this report.
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