How El Chapo's Son Helped US Arrest Famous Narco Chief El Mayo

The son of jailed former Sinaloa Cartel kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman planned to give himself up upon landing.

As a propeller plane on Thursday whirred towards the U.S.-Mexico border to cross illegally, U.S. agents raced to meet it at a small municipal airport near El Paso, Texas, and arrest two men who were part of Mexican drug trafficking royalty.

The son of jailed former Sinaloa Cartel kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman planned to give himself up upon landing. The other passenger - legendary septuagenarian trafficker Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada - did not and was duped into getting on the plane by the younger man, according to two current and two former U.S. officials familiar with the situation.

Zambada's arrest followed lengthy surrender talks between U.S. authorities and El Chapo's son, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the sources said. But many American officials had given up hope on Joaquin turning himself in, and were caught unaware when he sent a last-minute message that he would arrive with a kingpin U.S. authorities had been chasing for four decades.