mexico city — Armed men entered through a window to ambush Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the Sinaloa cartel’s most elusive leader, who was then loaded onto a plane, drugged and transported across the border into the United States, according to details revealed Monday at the hearing of the drug trafficker who kidnapped him.
Joaquin Guzman Lopez, 39, the son of former Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, plead guilty He was charged with two counts of drug smuggling and continuing a criminal enterprise before the federal court in Chicago after he admitted his role in supervising the transportation of tens of thousands of kilograms of drugs to the United States.
As part of the plea agreement, US prosecutors shared what was one of the central questions of the immediate hours and days that followed Zambada fell into the hands of the United States In July 2024.
How did a cunning drug lord who for decades have been at the top of power in the United States end up like a gift tied with a bow?
The plea agreement did not name Zambada, but in the days following his arrest, one of his attorneys, A.J A message from him This explains that he was summoned to meet Guzmán Lopez and there he was kidnapped.
Andrew Erskine, a lawyer representing the US government, said on Monday that the alleged kidnapping of an unnamed person was part of an attempt to show cooperation with Washington, which he said does not sanction such actions. He also said that Guzman Lopez would not get collaboration credit because of it.
The arrest of both drug smugglers by US authorities angered then-Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, who suspected that the US government was behind the operation. Washington denied involvement from the beginning, but experts believed it would be practically impossible to do so without US authorities having some knowledge.
Erskine described the alleged kidnapping in court, saying Guzman Lopez removed the floor-to-ceiling window glass from the room before meeting with the unnamed person.
Guzmán Lopez allegedly had others enter through the open window, arrest the person, put a bag over his head and take him to the plane. On board, he was strapped down and given sedatives before the plane landed at a New Mexico airport near the border with Texas.
Zambada said in his letter that Guzman Lopez invited him to attend a meeting on the outskirts of Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa state, with some local politicians, one of the most prominent local politicians. Who was later found dead.
He said that when he arrived there were many armed men wearing green military uniforms, and he assumed that they were armed men from the “Chapito” family, which is the name given to the sons of “El Chapo” Guzmán. Although they were running a rival faction within the cartel, Zambada maintained communication with them and appeared to trust Guzman Lopez enough to follow him into a dark room.
On board the plane that landed in New Mexico, there was only the pilot Zambada and Guzmán Lopez. On the plane, Zambada was given a drink containing painkillers, and Guzmán Lopez also drank some of it, according to Guzmán Lopez’s account.
Instead of congratulating or thanking the United States for Zambada’s arrest, the Mexican Attorney General’s Office said it was examining the possibility of bringing him into the country. Treason charges against Guzman Lopez or anyone else who assisted in the conspiracy.
A. was arrested Bloody battle in Sinaloa Among their cartel factions to control the business is violence that President Claudia Sheinbaum, López Obrador’s successor, is still dealing with.
Through the plea deal, Guzman Lopez’s defense attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, said he is expected to avoid life in prison.
Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán is serving a life sentence after being convicted in 2019 for his role as a former Sinaloa cartel leader, smuggling mountains of cocaine and other drugs into the United States over a 25-year period.
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Fernando reported from Chicago.