Mexico wasn’t told of cartel arrests until kingpins were in U.S. custody

MEXICO CITY - Mexico was not informed of the secret U.S. operation to whisk two Sinaloa cartel leaders to the United States until after the men were taken into custody, one of the country’s top security officials said Friday.

The arrests of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López on Thursday were a historic coup for U.S. agents pursuing a drug syndicate that has flooded the United States with fentanyl and trafficked tons of heroin, cocaine and methamphetamines worldwide. The operation unfolded like a Hollywood thriller, with Zambada duped into boarding a U.S.-bound plane, a plan even American agents initially doubted could work, officials said.

A day after the operation, details remained murky. Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez told reporters Friday that a small Cessna airplane piloted by an American took off from Hermosillo airport in the northern Mexican state of Sonora just before 8 a.m. Thursday and landed at around 10 a.m. at the airport in Santa Teresa, N.M., near El Paso. Zambada, 76, a co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, and Guzmán, 38, a son of the notorious drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, were arrested by DEA and FBI agents when the aircraft landed.

But a Justice Department official said the plane was a Beechcraft King Air and that the name of the pilot given by Rodríguez was incorrect.

The U.S. Embassy did not notify Rodríguez of the operation until 3:30 p.m. local time, she said. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was not informed until 4:14 p.m.

U.S. authorities have not said why they kept the plan from their Mexican counterparts. But U.S. anti-drug operations have been foiled in recent years by leaks from Mexican officials, leaving Washington wary.

“We are awaiting official communication on whether what happened yesterday was a capture or surrender,” Rodríguez said during López Obrador’s daily news conference.

Zambada might have been tricked into getting on the plane

U.S. officials offered differing accounts of how Zambada was captured. Some said he surrendered. An official from the Department of Homeland Security and a former Justice Department official said Zambada was told he was boarding the flight with the younger Guzmán to go look at investment properties.

U.S. agents scrambled to get to the Santa Teresa airport because they hadn’t expected the ruse to work, the officials said. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive case.

Zambada’s attorney, Frank Perez, told The Washington Post his client “was not brought voluntarily” to Texas. He declined further comment.

Joaquín Guzmán cooperated in the operation, the officials said. He’s one of the “Chapitos,” the four sons who took over their father’s business after El Chapo was arrested in 2016. Another of those sons, Ovidio, 34, was captured by the Mexican army in 2023 and extradited to the United States.

Homeland Security Investigations agents played a leading role in the secret operation, persuading Ovidio Guzmán to reach out to his brother, and then working with Joaquín to get Zambada on the plane, the DHS official said. Joaquín Guzmán has been willing to “do a lot” to help Ovidio, who is awaiting trial on drug and money-laundering charges and could face a life sentence, the official said. Joaquín’s cooperation could win him significant concessions, according to the former Justice Department official.

Zambada and El Chapo, who is serving a sentence of life plus 30 years in the federal supermax prison in Florence, Colo., jointly led one of the world’s most prolific drug cartels, a multibillion-dollar business. The Biden administration has targeted the cartel as it tries to combat the most deadly drug epidemic in history, fueled by the rise of fentanyl.

The arrests aren’t expected to end the flow of fentanyl

U.S. authorities from President Biden on down described the operation as a resounding success. But analysts said the arrests were unlikely to cripple the narcotics business and could escalate violence in Mexico.

“When we look at organized crime from the outside, we like to talk about the big cartels,” said Falko Ernst, senior Mexico analyst at the International Crisis Group. “But behind that, there is a very large number of other operators that never give themselves a name, that never pop up in media reporting,” he said, such as logistics experts and those who bribe state and local officials. “And that is the real backbone of this economy.”

Synthetic substances such as fentanyl are easy to manufacture in small clandestine labs. The business involves so many players that it will continue to operate with little or no disruption, said Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, a specialist in drug policy and organized crime at the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation.

Even if the Sinaloa cartel was weakened, analysts said, its chief rival, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, would probably fill any gaps in the fentanyl trade. That group will increasingly challenge Sinaloa for dominance, said Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who studies Mexican criminal organizations.

“The whole of Mexico can be inflamed,” she said.

Zambada was less well known than El Chapo, who inspired movies and books with his flashy lifestyle and uncanny ability to tunnel out of prisons. Yet the low-key Zambada was equally important or perhaps even more significant in cartel operations, Mexican officials say. (His nickname, “El Mayo,” refers to his middle name, Mario, according to Mexican media reports.)

Zambada pleaded not guilty to all charges Friday in federal court in El Paso, according to court records.

Zambada and El Chapo were indicted in El Paso in 2012 for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to traffic cocaine and marijuana into the United States, launder money and murder perceived enemies.

The younger Guzmán on Friday was heading to Chicago, where he was set to make his first court appearance on Tuesday, U.S. officials said. “I’ve got no comment other than to confirm I represent Joaquin and will be in court for him at his initial appearance,” his defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman said.

The Chapitos were a major U.S. target

The “Chapitos” were among the U.S. government’s most-sought-after drug-trafficking targets; Washington has offered a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of the two oldest brothers, Iván and Jesús Alfredo. Joaquin was the least involved in drug trafficking of the brothers, authorities said.

Rodríguez was peppered by reporters Friday on why Mexico was not told in advance about such a critical operation. Zambada also faces arrest warrants in Mexico. Rodríguez dismissed the concerns.

“We are going to continue cooperating with the U.S. government, as we have done up until this event,” she said.

Zambada was seen as a sophisticated operator who had cultivated extensive ties to politicians over the years, analysts said. He could name corrupt Mexican officials who might face U.S. charges themselves.

“Getting the list of corrupt officials and going after them is the real prize” in Zambada’s arrest, said Peter Reuter, a criminologist at the University of Maryland who studies fentanyl trafficking.

“I’m sure a lot of political actors and government officials did not sleep a wink last night,” Felbab-Brown said. “He knows where all the bodies are buried over many administrations.”

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Miroff and Ovalle reported from Washington. Spencer S. Hsu in Miami, Lorena Rios in Monterrey, Mexico, and Alejandra Ibarra Chaoul in Mexico City contributed to this report.