THE LETTER
Since I was flown to the United States from Mexico on July 25, 2024, there have been many inaccurate reports in the media of both countries. In this statement I will provide the true facts of what happened that day. I wish to say from the outset that I did not surrender and did not come to the United States voluntarily. Nor did I have any agreement with either government. On the contrary, I was kidnapped and brought to the United States by force and against my will. Below is a detail of how it happened.
Joaquín Guzmán López asked me to attend a meeting to help resolve differences between the political leaders of our state. He was aware of 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. I was informed that in addition to Héctor Cuén and Governor Rocha Moya, Iván Guzmán Salazar would also be present at the meeting.
On July 25, I went to the ranch and event center called Huertos del Pedregal, outside of Culiacán, where the meeting was to take place. The meeting was scheduled for 11:00 am and I arrived a little early.
I saw a large number of armed men in green military uniforms whom I assumed were gunmen for Joaquín Guzmán and his brothers. I was accompanied by four security personnel, two of whom stayed outside the perimeter. The two who went in with me were José Rosario Heras López, commander of the Judicial Police of the State of Sinaloa, and Rodolfo Chaidez, a long-time member of my security team.
As I walked toward the meeting area, I saw Hector Cuen and one of his assistants. I greeted them briefly before entering a room with a table full of fruit. I saw Joaquin Guzman Lopez, whom I have known since I was a child, and he gestured for me to follow him. Trusting the nature of the meeting and the people involved, I followed without hesitation. I was led into another room that was dark.
As soon as I set foot inside that room, I was ambushed. A group of men assaulted me, threw me to the ground, and placed a dark-colored hood over my head. I was tied up and handcuffed, then forced into the back of a pickup truck. Throughout this ordeal, I was subjected to physical abuse, resulting in significant injuries to my back, knee, and wrists. I was then taken to an airstrip about 20 to 25 minutes away, where I was forced onto a private plane.
Joaquín removed the hood from my head and tied me to the seat with cable ties. There was no one else on the plane but Joaquín, the pilot and me.
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The flight lasted between 2 ½ and 3 hours, non-stop, until we arrived in El Paso, Texas. It was there, on the tarmac, that I was detained by U.S. federal agents. The idea that I surrendered or cooperated voluntarily is completely and unequivocally false. I was brought to this country by force and under coercion, without my consent and against my will.
I know that the official version given by the authorities of the state of Sinaloa is that Hector Cuen was shot on the night of July 25 at a gas station by two men on a motorcycle who wanted to steal his truck. That is not what happened. He was killed at the same time and in the same place where I was kidnapped. Hector Cuen was a long-time friend of mine, and I deeply regret his death, as well as the disappearance of Jose Rosario Heras Lopez and Rodolfo Chaidez, who have not been seen or heard from since.
I think it is important that the truth be known. This is what happened and not the false stories that are circulating. I call on the governments of Mexico and the United States to be transparent and provide the truth about my kidnapping in the United States and about the deaths of Hector Cuen, Rosario Heras, Rodolfo Chaidez and any other person who lost their lives that day.
I also call on the people of Sinaloa to exercise restraint and to maintain peace in our state. Nothing is resolved with violence. We have already been down that road and we all lose.
– Ismael Mayo Zambada
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#letter #Mayo #tells #truth
