American law enforcement has arrested two top leaders of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most dominant criminal groups in Mexico, the Justice Department said on Thursday.
The two operatives, Ismael Zambada García and Joaquín Guzmán López, are among the most powerful drug traffickers in Mexico and command massive transnational cocaine and fentanyl businesses that move narcotics into the United States, Europe and elsewhere.
Both men were in custody in El Paso, Texas.
Mr. Zambada García, who is known as “El Mayo,” has been pursued by the U.S. government for years and has been charged in several federal indictments stretching back more than two decades.
He has never been imprisoned, unlike his top ally, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known as El Chapo, who was extradited to the United States, convicted in Brooklyn federal court in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison on drug conspiracy charges.
Persons:
Ismael Zambada García, Guzmán, Zambada García, El, ”, Joaquín Guzmán, El Chapo
Organizations:
Sinaloa Cartel, Justice, U.S
Locations:
Sinaloa, Mexico, United States, Europe, El Paso , Texas, El Mayo, Brooklyn