Mexico City: Ismael “Mayo” Zambada, the co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel arrested in the United States on Thursday, is one of Mexico’s most wanted drug traffickers who has evaded justice for decades.
Before his surprise capture in El Paso, Texas, the 76-year-old had never been to prison.
Despite his efforts to stay in the background, the elusive boss was one of the main targets of the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
The United States offered a $15 million reward for information leading to Zambada’s arrest and charged him with trafficking cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl.
The reward exceeded the $10 million offered for Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, head of the rival Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
Zambada was arrested on Thursday along with Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of Sinaloa cartel founder Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who is serving a life sentence in the United States.
Unlike Zambada, El Chapo was arrested three times before being extradited to the United States.
Zambada, who was born in the Sinaloa state capital of Culiacan, was a longtime leader of a faction of the Sinaloa cartel, according to US authorities.
He was “unique in that he spent his entire adult life as a major international drug trafficker and yet never spent a day in prison,” the US State Department said in 2021.
After El Chapo’s arrest and extradition, Zambada became “the undisputed senior leader of the Sinaloa cartel,” he added.
A former farmer, Zambada began working with the Juarez cartel in the 1980s and 1990s.
After the death of the head of this cartel, Amado Carrillo Fuentes, he decided to create his own organization, according to the InSight Crime think tank.
In recent years, Zambada has been weakened by the arrests of his brother, two sons and a nephew.
Two of them even served as witnesses in the trial of El Chapo in New York.
El Chapo’s lawyers argued that Zambada was the real leader of the cartel.
Lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman alleged that Zambada paid a $100 million bribe to former Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.
In 2017, Zambada survived an attack allegedly carried out by another leader of the Sinaloa cartel.
In 2010, the drug veteran gave a short interview to the Mexican magazine Proceso, revealing that he started committing crimes at the age of 16.
Zambada said he came close to being captured by the Mexican military on several occasions.
However, it was not until Thursday that he was finally taken into American custody under circumstances that were not immediately clear.
Zambada is “one of the most notorious drug traffickers in Mexican history,” according to InSight Crime, known for keeping a low profile and focusing on commerce over violence. “In addition, he is one of the few bosses of the old guard who managed to escape justice throughout his criminal career,” the think tank said before his arrest.
