Son of ‘El Chapo’ and co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel ‘El Mayo’ is arrested in Texas

The son of Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera and a co-founder of the cartel who helped lead it for three decades were arrested Thursday in El Paso, Texas, Attorney General Merrick Garland he said.

Joaquín Guzmán López and Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García have been indicted in the US and face “multiple charges” in connection with the Mexico-based criminal organization, “including their deadly drug manufacturing and trafficking networks. fentanyl.” ”, Garland said in a statement.

The crime boss known as “El Chapo” was arrested in Mexico and extradited to the US and is serving a life sentence plus 30 years which was given in New York in 2019.

The Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels “are at the center” of the U.S. synthetic drug crisis, which includes fentanyl and methamphetamine, the Drug Enforcement Administration said in its report. 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment.

“Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Department of Justice will not rest until every cartel leader, member and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable,” Garland said in the statement.

Another son of “El Chapo”, Ovidio Guzmán López, who was also accused of being a cartel leader, was arrested in Mexico in January 2023 and was extradited to the USA to face drug and money laundering charges. He declared himself innocent In September.

A federal grand jury indicted Joaquín Guzmán López and Ovidio Guzmán López in 2018 on charges that alleged a conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana in the US

A federal grand jury also indicted Joaquín Guzmán López, Ovidio Guzmán López and two other sons of “El Chapo” last year, the Justice Department said. said at the time.

The other two sons, Iván Guzmán Salazar and Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, were not detained. The four children are known as “Chapitos”, federal authorities saidand they took control of the drug trafficking networks of his father and his cartel faction.

Four criminal organizations make up the Sinaloa Cartel, the DEA says, including “Los Chapitos,” which was run by “El Chapo’s” four sons.

The brothers promoted making fentanyl a larger part of the cartel’s business, the DEA said in the 2024 report.

“The Sinaloa Cartel has been producing large quantities of fentanyl since at least 2012, but the Chapitos faction is responsible for driving the importance of fentanyl into the cartel’s ‘bottom line’,” the report says.

Zambada García, known as “El Mayo,” was a co-founder of the cartel and was co-director of the criminal organization for three decades, according to the DEA. He controls one of the four factions that make up the cartel.

Zambada García was a partner of “El Chapo,” but more recently was involved in an internal battle with the “Chapitos,” the agency said.

Zambada García was also charged in the US. He was most recently charged in February in a superseding indictment that charges him with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, the Justice Department said. announced at the time.

DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said Zambada García’s arrest “strike at the heart of the cartel that is responsible for the majority of drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, killing Americans from coast to coast.”

“El Mayo is one of the DEA’s most wanted fugitives and is in custody tonight and will soon face justice in a U.S. court,” Milgram said. said in a statement.

There were an estimated 107,543 drug overdose deaths in the US last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the majority of which – about 74,702 – were from synthetic opioids, which include fentanyl. The second highest number came from psychostimulants such as methamphetamine, with an estimated 36,251 deaths, he said.

The Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels manufacture fentanyl in labs in Mexico and then ship it to the U.S., the DEA said in this year’s report.

Both cartels reportedly ordered their subordinates last year to stop trafficking fentanyl, and the “Chapitos” made a public show about it, but the DEA concluded that “the ban is likely a public relations stunt.”

“Throughout 2023, fentanyl has been seized at the border in quantities equal to or greater than in previous years, and no local DEA office has reported that fentanyl is less available or more expensive, which would point to a decrease in supply,” he said. . .

This article was originally published in NBCNews. with