ENTRE News – Mexican drug kingpin boss, Ismael El Mayo Zambada, is in the spotlight after being arrested in Texas, United States, on Thursday (25/7). US authorities arrested El Mayo and Joaquin El Chapo’s son, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, after landing on a private plane in El Paso. El Mayo and Lopez were charged with a number of charges for transporting large amounts of drugs to the US.
“[Zambada and Guzman Lopez face multiple charges in the US] for leading the Cartel’s criminal operations, including a deadly fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking network,” said US Attorney General Merrick Garland in an official release.
Who is Mexican drug lord Ismael El Mayo?
Zambada alias El Mayo is the most influential trader in Mexico. He served as a key coordinator for several Mexican drug trafficking organizations and as a key member of the Amado Carrillo-Fuentes Organization in the 1990s. In the late 1990s, El Mayo emerged as one of Mexico’s most powerful drug traffickers. He was able to sell tons of cocaine and marijuana and kilograms of heroin, the US website quoted him as saying.
He also invested in a number of businesses in Mexico. Some of these include large dairies, bus lines, hotels, and many real estate assets. Not only that, El Mayo is one of the founders of the Sinaloa Cartel with El Chapo. They are on the US wanted list. In 2016, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs even offered a reward of US$ 5 million or around Rp. 81 billion for anyone who had information about him. El Chapo was first arrested in 2016. This arrest caused El Mayo to occupy the highest position in Sinaloa.
Sinaloa has operated since the 1980s and is the most powerful and violent criminal organization in Mexico, as quoted by CBS News. In recent years, the Sinaloa Cartel has become the biggest target of US authorities because it is suspected of being the largest supplier of fentanyl to the country.
Sinaloa receives large quantities of cocaine by sea from Colombian supply sources. After receiving the cocaine, they used a variety of methods, including airplanes, trucks, and cars to transport the cocaine to the United States-Mexico border. Their cartel members also smuggled cocaine into distribution cells, including major cells in Arizona, California, Chicago and New York.