Why are there questions about arrests of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel leaders?
Al Jazeera
Mexico asks the US to reveal the circumstances surrounding the arrests of Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada Garcia and Joaquin Guzman Lopez.
On June 25, the United States Justice Department announced the arrest of two high-ranking leaders of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel – co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of imprisoned drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
“Both men are facing multiple charges in the United States for leading the Cartel’s criminal operation,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement on June 25.
Zambada, 76 and Guzman, 38, are the latest Sinaloa cartel leaders arrested by the Justice Department. El Chapo and another of his sons, Ovidio Guzman Lopez – along with Nestor Isidro Perez Salas or “El Nini” – are already in US custody for drug trafficking.
US President Joe Biden commended the law enforcement officials “for their ongoing work to bring Sinaloa cartel leaders to justice”.
But the circumstances of their arrests in El Paso, Texas are shrouded in mystery, with the US ambassador to Mexico on Friday acknowledging that Zambada was brought to the US against his will, while Zambada’s lawyer has claimed that his client was kidnapped by Guzman from Mexico. Guzman’s lawyer, on the other hand, said that it was voluntary surrender.
