Sinaloa Cartel Co-Founder 'El Mayo' Detained in US

Mexican drug lord Ismael Zambada Garcia, also known as “El Mayo,” co-founder of the notorious Sinaloa drug cartel, was taken into custody in El Paso on Thursday, according to the Justice Department.

Juaquin Guzman Lopez, son of the cartel's other co-founder, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, was also arrested.

“The Department of Justice has taken into custody two additional alleged leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world,” said U.S. Attorney General Merick B. Garland. “Ismael Zambada Garcia, known as “El Mayo,” a co-founder of the cartel, and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of its other co-founder, were arrested today in El Paso, Texas.”

Zambada Garcia and now-imprisoned drug lord “El Chapo” founded the Sinaloa Cartel.

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This image provided by the U.S. State Department shows Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a longtime leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel. Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López, the son of another infamous cartel leader, were arrested by U.S. authorities in Texas, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday, July 25, 2024. (U.S. State Department via AP)

A federal law enforcement source told Fox News that Joaquin Guzman Lopez surrendered to U.S. authorities, but El Mayo was captured. Guzman Lopez made a deal with U.S. authorities and turned himself in on El Mayo, the source said.

Guzman Lopez boarded a private plane with El Mayo and instead of heading south to Mexico as El Mayo thought, the plane headed north to El Paso where the two were taken into custody.

“El Mayo,” who had been offered a $15 million reward by the Justice Department for information leading to his arrest and conviction, now faces a litany of charges related to drug trafficking and organized crime in the United States.

“Today, the FBI and DEA arrested two alleged cartel leaders who have eluded law enforcement for decades,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray, adding that El Mayo and Guzman Lopez will now face justice.

“Garcia and Guzman allegedly oversaw the trafficking of tens of thousands of kilos of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the United States, as well as the violence associated with it. These arrests are an example of the commitment of the FBI and our partners to dismantling violent transnational criminal organizations like the Sinaloa Cartel.”

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Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the leader of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, is escorted to a helicopter in Mexico City after his capture in the resort town of Mazatlan. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, file)

In February, U.S. federal prosecutors charged Zambada Garcia with conspiring to manufacture and distribute fentanyl, which U.S. authorities say is the leading cause of death among Americans ages 18 to 45.

The superseding indictment extended the dates of the previous indictments from May 2014 to January 2024, and at the time of its filing, Zambada Garcia was a fugitive.

Guzman was convicted by a federal jury in Brooklyn in February 2019 and sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years.

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Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is escorted by soldiers during a presentation in Mexico City, January 8, 2016. (REUTERS/Tomas Bravo/File photo)

Zambada Garcia continued to elude capture and allegedly continued to lead the Sinaloa Cartel from Mexico, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York in February.

According to the superseding indictment, Zambada Garcia operated, from 1999 to 2024, a continuing enterprise responsible for the importation and distribution of massive quantities of narcotics, which generated billions of dollars in profits.

In his efforts to ensure the success of the cartel, Zambada Garcia allegedly employed individuals to obtain transportation routes and warehouses to import and store narcotics and “sicarios,” or hit men, to commit kidnappings and murders in Mexico to exact revenge on rivals who threatened the Sinaloa Cartel.

The millions of dollars generated by the operation were then repatriated to Mexico.

“El Mayo and Guzman Lopez join a growing list of Sinaloa Cartel leaders and associates that the Justice Department holds accountable in the United States. This includes the cartel’s other co-founder, Joaquin Guzman Loera, or “El Chapo,” another of El Chapo’s sons and an alleged cartel leader, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, and the cartel’s alleged top sicario, Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, or “El Nini,” Garland said. “Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Justice Department will not rest until every cartel leader, member, and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable.”

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In light of Guzman's conviction at trial, his name was removed from the indictment against Zambada Garcia.

Reuters contributed to this report.