Cartel boss ‘El Mayo’: I was detained before meeting a politician

MEXICO CITY – Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the last of Mexico’s old drug lords, said in a statement Saturday that he was ambushed and secretly flown to the United States after being invited to a meeting allegedly involving the governor of Sinaloa state.

Zambada, 76, and a son of trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán were arrested two weeks ago after landing at an airport outside El Paso, in a mysterious operation that has raised questions about cartel treachery and possible U.S. involvement.

The DEA called the arrests a “huge blow” to the Sinaloa cartel, one of Mexico’s largest drug trafficking organizations and the largest supplier of fentanyl to the United States. U.S. officials have denied that their agents were involved in smuggling El Mayo out of Mexico.

U.S. and Mexican officials have given conflicting accounts of how one of the world’s most notorious drug traffickers was smuggled across the border. Some have suggested that Zambada may have made a deal to turn himself in. The legendary trafficker denies that in a statement issued by his attorney, Frank Perez.

Instead, he attributed his arrest to a trap set up by El Chapo’s son, also named Joaquín. Zambada’s explanation provided further evidence of a dramatic split between two leading cartel factions: his group and a group led by the sons of El Chapo Guzmán, Zambada’s partner until his arrest in 2016.

The story could not be independently confirmed. However, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar said Friday that it appeared Zambada had been taken to Texas against his will. Guzmán, on the other hand, turned himself in, the ambassador said. U.S. officials have told The Washington Post that Guzmán, 38, may have been seeking clemency for himself and his 34-year-old brother Ovidio, who was extradited to the United States last year.

A lawyer for Guzmán denies luring Zambada onto the plane or making a deal with U.S. authorities. Both alleged cartel traffickers have pleaded not guilty to wide-ranging drug charges.

Zambada’s story goes like this: He was invited by Guzmán to a July 25 meeting with Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha and a former mayor of Culiacan, Héctor Melesio Cuén. The politicians disagreed over who should lead the Autonomous University of Sinaloa, Zambada said — and the Sinaloa Cartel leaders would help resolve it.

He said he arrived at an events center outside Culiacan, the state capital, just before 11 a.m. and saw armed men in military uniforms — “who I assumed were gunmen for Joaquín Guzmán and his brothers,” he said.

Zambada had four bodyguards, he said, including one who worked as a state police commander. Zambada said he greeted Cuén and followed Guzmán — “who I’ve known since he was a little boy” — into a dark room.

“A group of men attacked me, knocked me to the ground and put a dark-colored hood over my head,” he said in the statement. The men tied up Zambada, forced him into a pickup truck and drove him to an airstrip, where he was forced into a private jet, he said. Guzmán “tied me to the seat with zip ties,” the statement said.

Three hours later, the plane landed just outside El Paso.

Rocha, a member of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s Morena party, did not publicly respond to the report on Saturday. His spokesman declined to comment. Asked on Saturday whether he still supported Rocha, the president told reporters: “Yes, we’re going to wait and see what he has to say.”

The Sinaloa cartel is known for its close ties to politicians – one reason for the group’s longevity. Mexican media have speculated that Zambada could provide a wealth of information to U.S. authorities about official complicity in the drug trade.

When Rocha became governor in 2021, cartel members contributed to his victory by kidnapping more than 20 political operatives working for his opponent on the eve of the election, according to a report by the investigative journal RioDoce in Sinaloa. State officials put the number at 10. None of the cases have been solved. That opposition candidate, Mario Zamora Gastélum, told reporters that it was difficult to provide evidence because “people are too afraid to document it.”

Rocha denies collaborating with cartels.

Cuén, the other politician Zambada said was at the rally, was killed. Mexican authorities said he was fatally shot while sitting in his car on the evening of July 25. But Zambada said he was “killed at the same time and in the same place where I was kidnapped.”

The split in the Sinaloa cartel’s top brass has raised fears of a new narco war. But Zambada urged peace. “Nothing can be solved by violence,” he said.