Mexican police sources said that Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, 76 years old, had surrendered to US authorities in El Paso, Texas, in recent hours. Other sources say that he was arrested in the Sierra de Sinaloa and brought to the state of Texas to be presented as having surrendered.
So far, neither Mexican nor U.S. authorities have confirmed or denied the official version that has been handled by the Semanario Zeta of Tijuana and other recognized media outlets in the country.
Ismael Mario Zambada Garcia
Born in El Alamo, Sinaloa, January 1, 1948
He is known as Mayo, or Mr. Mayo.
Along with “El Chapo” Guzmán and “El Azul,” he leads the Sinaloa Cartel, being the top leader of the criminal organization since El Chapo’s capture.
He is accused of exporting cocaine and heroin from Mexico to the United States. He began his criminal career in the Guadalajara Cartel during the 1970s, an organization led by Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo and Rafael Caro Quintero.
He was linked to the Juarez Cartel of Amado Carrillo, “The Lord of the Skies”, although he also collaborated with Edelio Lopez, of the Gulf Cartel.
Internet records indicate that Zambada underwent plastic surgery to change his face in the 2000s.
He took over the Sinaloa Cartel after El Chapo was imprisoned in February 2014, and is considered the most powerful drug lord in the north of the country. He had never been arrested to date.
According to the Internet, he has 4 sons and 4 daughters; among them, Vicente Zambada Niebla, alias “El Vicentillo”, also an operator of the same Sinaloa cartel. Another of his sons is Serafín Zambada Ortiz, arrested in November 2013 when he was crossing the border in Nogales, Arizona, with his wife. While the third is Ismael Zambada Imperial, alias “El Mayito Gordo”, also captured.
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