Through a release, The Department of Justice reported tonight the arrest of Zambada Garcia and Guzman Lopez, two alleged leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world. arrest took place in El Paso, Texas.
“Both men are face multiple charges in the United States for leading the criminal operations of the Cartel, including its deadly networks manufacturing and traffic of fentanyl”, the US government said.
Zambada and Guzmán López, arrested in the US: what was their role in the Sinaloa Cartel?
El Mayo and Guzmán López “join a growing list of Sinaloa Cartel leaders and associates whom the Justice Department is holding accountable in the United States.” They include the “Chapo” Guzman Loera, Ovid Guzman Lopez (another of “El Chapo’s” sons) and the alleged main hitman of the Cartel, Nestor Isidro Perez Salas, either “The Nini”.
Zambada, 76 years old, is one of the traffickers most important in the history of Mexico and co-founded the powerful Sinaloa Cartel With El Chapo, who was extradited to USA in 2017 and is serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison.
In February, federal prosecutors Americans accused Zambada of conspiracy for manufacture and distribute fentanyl, which according to U.S. officials is the leading cause of death among Americans between the ages of 18 and 45.
The United States anti-drug agency, DEA, offered a reward of US$15 million dollars for information leading to the whereabouts of El Mayo.
Joaquin Guzman Lopez It is one of the so-called “Little Chaps”, the children of the drug trafficker El Chapo Guzman, who was the head of the cartel Sinaloa and that fulfills life imprisonment in an American prison.
Following the capture of El Chapo in January 2016 and his extradition to the United States the following year, His children became a key part of the organization criminal. One of them, Ovidio Guzmán was also handed over to the US justice system last September.
Fentanyl, a threat to US health security
According to Centers for Disease Control and Preventionthe United States recorded more than 107,000 drug overdose deaths in 2023. He fentanyl represented around the 70% of them.
“He fentanyl is the The deadliest drug threat our country has ever facedand the Department of Justice will not rest until every leader, member, and associate of the cartels responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable,” the Department of Justice concluded in its statement on Thursday.
Washington ensures that the fentanyl It is often made from products from China, and then the drug traffickers, especially the sign from Sinaloa, they smuggle it in from Mexico across the border.
Source: Ambito
