The co-founder of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada confirmed this Saturday in a statement released by his lawyer that he was taken to the United States “by force” after being deceived by the son of his former partner, Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán.
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Following his surprise arrest on July 27 in El Paso (Texas) along with Joaquín Guzmán López, one of ‘El Chapo’s’ sons, various media leaks had suggested that ‘El Mayo’ had been brought to US territory under false pretenses.
The two men were detained by US authorities as they disembarked from a private plane at an airport outside the border city.
Guzmán López was later transferred to Chicago, where he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges and it is expected that ‘El Mayo’ will be sent to New York, where he has a pending charge in the same federal court where ‘El Chapo’ was sentenced to life in prison in 2019.
‘I was brought to this country by force and under duress’
In writing, Zambada said that the night he was taken to the United States, he had gone to a “ranch” on the outskirts of Culiacán (Sinaloa) to meet with the state governor, Rubén Rocha Moya, and the deceased congressman Cuén Ojeda.
The purpose of the meeting, called by Guzmán López, which was also attended by Iván Guzmán Salazar, another of ‘El Chapo’s’ sons, was to “resolve the differences between the political leaders of the state,” according to the text.
It was an “ongoing dispute between Rubén Rocha Moya, governor of Sinaloa, and Héctor Melesio Cuén Ojeda, former federal deputy, mayor of Culiacán and rector of the Autonomous University of Sinaloa (UAS), over who should lead that institution,” it said.
A group of men jumped on me, threw me to the ground and placed a dark-colored hood over my head.
‘El Mayo’ claims that he arrived at the meeting at around 11:00, accompanied by “security personnel” that included the “commander of the Sinaloa Judicial Police, José Rosario Heras, and that he saw Cuén Ojeda.”
Entering a room, guided by Guzmán López, ‘El Mayo’ says that he was “ambushed”: “A group of men jumped on me, threw me to the ground and placed a dark-colored hood over my head.”
From there, he continued, he was taken in the trunk of a car to a private plane; once inside the aircraft, Guzmán López removed his hood and tied him to the seat. He claims that during this time he was “subjected to physical abuse,” causing him “significant injuries to his back, knee and wrists.”
About three hours later, on a non-stop flight, El Mayo, Guzmán López and the pilot landed in El Paso, Texas, where U.S. federal agents detained them.
“The idea that I surrendered or cooperated voluntarily is completely and unequivocally false; I was brought to this country by force and under duress,” Zambada stressed.
Regarding the death of Cuén Ojeda -whom he referred to as a long-time friend of his- ‘El Mayo’ stressed in the text that the politician was murdered “at the same time and in the same place” where he was “kidnapped.”
The Sinaloa Prosecutor’s Office said on July 26 that it was investigating the politician’s death as an “attempted robbery.”
Zamabada has already appeared twice for preliminary hearings before a federal court in El Paso, where he pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, including drug trafficking and money laundering.
The idea that I voluntarily surrendered or cooperated is completely and unequivocally false.
His case in the US represents the end of the old guard of Mexican drug trafficking and may reveal more details about the cartel’s connection to the government. from that country, according to experts and sources close to the investigation who spoke to EFE.
Fearing that a settling of scores could be triggered by his kidnapping and subsequent handover to the US justice system, Zambada called in his letter to the people of Sinaloa to “be moderate and maintain peace” in their state. “Nothing is resolved with violence. We have already gone down that road and we all lose,” he said.
He also asked the governments of Mexico and the United States for “transparency” and “the truth” about his kidnapping and “on the deaths of Hector Cuen, Rosario Heras, Rodolfo Chaidez and any other person who lost their life that day,” he says.
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