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Mexico was not notified of the cartel arrests until its leaders were in U.S. custody

Mexico was not notified of the cartel arrests until its leaders were in U.S. custody

MEXICO CITY — Mexico only became aware of the secret U.S. operation to bring two leaders of the Sinaloa cartel to the United States after the men were arrested, one of The country’s top security officials said this on 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 played out like a Hollywood thriller, with Zambada being tricked into boarding a plane to the U.S., a plan that even U.S. agents initially doubted would work, officials said.

A day after the operation, details remained unclear. Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez told reporters Friday that a small Cessna plane 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 the airport in Santa Teresa, N.M., near El Paso, around 10 a.m. Zambada, 76, a co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, and Guzmán, 38, a son of notorious drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, were arrested by agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI as the plane landed.

But a Justice Department official said the plane was a Beechcraft King Air and that the pilot’s name Rodríguez gave 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. officials have not said why they hid the plan from their Mexican counterparts. But U.S. counter-drug operations have been thwarted in recent years by leaks from Mexican officials, raising Washington’s guard.

“We are waiting for the official announcement whether what happened yesterday was a capture or a surrender,” Rodríguez said during López Obrador’s daily news conference.

Zambada was allegedly tricked into boarding the plane

U.S. officials gave differing accounts of how Zambada was captured. Some said he surrendered. A Department of Homeland Security official and a former Justice Department official said Zambada was told he would board a plane with the younger Guzmán to look at investment properties.

U.S. agents rushed to Santa Teresa Airport because they did not expect the ruse to work, the officials said. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.

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

Joaquín Guzmán cooperated in the operation, officials said. He is 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 military in 2023 and extradited to the United States.

Homeland Security Investigations agents played a leading role in the sting operation, convincing Ovidio Guzmán to contact his brother and then working with Joaquín to get Zambada on the plane, the DHS official said. Joaquín Guzmán has been willing to “go to great lengths” to help Ovidio, who is awaiting trial on drug and money laundering charges and could face up to life in prison, the official said. Joaquín’s cooperation could earn him significant concessions, the former Justice Department official said.

Zambada and El Chapo, who is serving a 30-year life sentence in the federal supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, together ran one of the world’s most prolific drug cartels, a multibillion-dollar enterprise. The Biden administration has targeted the cartel as it tries to combat the deadliest drug epidemic in history, fueled by the rise of fentanyl.

The arrests are not expected to stop the flow of fentanyl

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

“When we look at organized crime from the outside, we like to talk about the big cartels,” said Falko Ernst, a senior Mexico analyst at the International Crisis Group. “But behind that are a large number of other operators who never name themselves, who never appear in the media,” 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 like fentanyl are easy to produce in small, secret labs. The business involves so many players that it will continue to operate with little to 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 were weakened, analysts said, its main rival, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, would likely 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.

“All of Mexico could be in turmoil,” she said.

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

Zambada pleaded not guilty to all charges in federal court in El Paso on Friday, court documents show.

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

The younger Guzmán was en route to Chicago on Friday, where he was scheduled to make his initial court appearance on Tuesday, U.S. officials said. “I have no comment other than to say that I represent Joaquin and will be in court for him at his initial appearance,” defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman said.

The Chapitos were a major target for the US

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

Rodríguez was grilled by reporters on Friday about why Mexico had not been notified in advance of such a critical operation. Zambada also faces arrest warrants in Mexico. Rodríguez dismissed the concerns.

“We will continue to cooperate with the US government as we have done so far,” she said.

Analysts said Zambada was seen as a sophisticated operator who had built extensive ties to politicians over the years, and could name corrupt Mexican officials who themselves could face charges from the U.S.

“The real prize for arresting Zambada is getting the list of corrupt officials and prosecuting them,” said Peter Reuter, a criminologist at the University of Maryland who studies the fentanyl trade.

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

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

correction

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that an attorney for Joaquín Guzmán López said his client was “not voluntarily” brought to Texas. The attorney, Frank Perez, represents Ismael Zambada and was referring to him. The article has been corrected.