Mexico's most-wanted: A guide to the drug cartels

[good guy]

More than 200,000 people have been killed or have disappeared since Mexico's government declared war on organised crime in December 2006.

The military offensive has led to the destruction of some drug gangs, splits within others and the emergence of new groups.

With widespread corruption and impunity exacerbating Mexico's problems, there is no end in sight to the violence.

Which are the most powerful cartels today? And who is behind them?

The Sinaloa cartel
Founded in the late 1980s, the Sinaloa cartel headed by Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán has long been considered Mexico's most powerful criminal organisation.

Having outfought several rival groups, the Sinaloa cartel dominates much of north-west Mexico and makes billions of dollars from trafficking illicit narcotics to the United States, Europe and Asia.

However, the cartel's future is uncertain after Guzmán was recaptured in 2016 following two daring prison breaks. He was extradited to the US in January 2017 and now awaits trial in New York.

The Jalisco New Generation
Sinaloa's strongest competitor is its former armed wing, the Jalisco New Generation cartel. Formed around 2010, the Jalisco cartel has expanded rapidly and aggressively across Mexico and is now challenging Sinaloa for control of strategic areas, including Tijuana and the port of Manzanillo.
The Jalisco cartel is blamed for a series of attacks on security forces and public officials, including downing an army helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade in 2015. Mexico's Attorney General Raul Cervantes declared it the nation's largest crimiGuzmán's latest arrest created a split within the Sinaloa cartel, fuelling rising violence in the region.

On one side were Guzmán's sons, Iván Archivaldo and Jesús Alfredo. On the other side, his former associate Dámaso López Núñez, alias "El Licenciado", and his son Dámaso López Serrano.nal organisation in 2017
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-40480405

 

[good guy]

Taliban or isis is nothing to this organization

here is some example

 

[sweep_shot]

Mexican security forces have arrested one of the sons of notorious drug kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, local officials say.

They say this happened in the western city of Culiacán, the stronghold of the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel.

The capture of Ovidio Guzmán López triggered heavy gun battles between suspected cartel members and the security forces across the city.

In July, Guzmán was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years in the US.

Guzmán, 62, had been found guilty by a court in New York on 10 charges, including drug trafficking and money laundering.

He escaped a Mexican jail through a tunnel in 2015, but was later arrested. He was extradited to the United States in 2017.

Guzmán is a former head of the Sinaloa cartel, which officials say was the biggest supplier of drugs to the US.

What happened in Culiacán?
Ovidio Guzmán, said to be in his 20s, is believed to have played a key role in the Sinaloa cartel, following the arrest of his father.

He is wanted in the US on several drug-related charges, Mexican media report.

News of his arrest on Thursday led to heavy shooting across the city, which is the capital of Sinaloa state.

The Sinaloa state government said it was "working to restore calm and order in the face of the high-impact incidents that have occurred in recent hours in various points around Culiacán", AFP news agency reports.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he would make a statement later on Thursday.

What was El Chapo's role in Mexico's drug trade?
"El Chapo" (or "Shorty") ran the Sinaloa cartel across northern Mexico.

Over time, it became one of the biggest traffickers of drugs to the US. In 2009, Guzmán entered Forbes' list of the world's richest men at number 701, with an estimated worth of $1bn (£775m).

He was accused of having helped export hundreds of tonnes of cocaine into the US and of conspiring to manufacture and distribute heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana.

He was also said to have used hitmen to carry out "hundreds" of murders, assaults, kidnappings and acts of torture on rivals.

Key associates, including one former lieutenant, testified against Guzmán.

Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-50092641.

 

[sweep_shot]

Mexico's president has defended freeing drug kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán's son soon after his arrest.

When Ovidio Guzmán López was seized at a house on a judge's warrant in the city of Culiacán, cartel gunmen fought street battles with security forces.

At least eight people were killed and 16 wounded, the authorities say, with vehicles left burning in the streets.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the decision to cancel the arrest on Thursday had saved lives.

Senior security officials had decided on his release, the president said at a news conference. "The officials who took this decision did well," he said.

"The capture of a criminal is not worth more than people's lives."

A lawyer for the Guzmán family appeared before journalists and described the president as "human" and "Christian". He had decided "not to cause Ovidio harm", José Luis González Meza said.

There was no negotiation to free him, he added.

Mr López Obrador was elected on a platform of cracking down on Mexico's drug cartels, and has tasked the National Guard, a new security force, with fighting the dealers.

Under El Chapo's leadership, the Sinaloa cartel was the biggest supplier of drugs to the US, officials say.

The kingpin was jailed earlier this year, and Ovidio Guzmán López is one of several brothers with a hand in running the cartel.

Thought to be in his twenties, he is accused of drug trafficking in the US.

What happened in Culiacán?
A patrol of National Guard militarised police came under intense fire from a house on Thursday afternoon, Security Minister Alfonso Durazo said.

The security forces fought back and found Mr Guzmán, but were then surrounded by gunmen and forced to retreat.

Defence Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval told reporters the operation had been "badly planned".

Five cartel members and a National Guard policeman are among the dead, he said.

Fighters also attacked security forces in other parts of Culiacán and bodies were seen on the streets.

Witnesses described scenes of panic in the city, a stronghold of the Sinaloa cartel, as families with small children fled from gunfire.

Footage on social media showed a pick-up truck with a machine gun mounted on the back, in scenes reminiscent of a war zone.

Fifty-one inmates escaped from Aguaruto prison during the disorder.

Other footage showed families scrambling to take cover under cars and in shops as bullets flew. In one video, a girl asked her father: "Why are they shooting bullets?"

A purported mugshot taken of Mr Guzmán while he was detained by police was shared widely on social media.

A source of great embarrassment
By Juan Carlos Perez Salazar, BBC Mundo

It seems that, for a while, Ovidio "The Mouse" Guzmán was in the hands of police.

What followed next, though a source of great embarrassment for the Mexican government, may not be surprising to those who know how powerful drug cartels are in parts of the country.

Culiacán is one of those areas. It has been linked with the production of drugs since at least the 1940s, and several of the biggest "capos" (drug lords) were born there. Despite the capture of El Chapo, its most well-known leader, the Sinaloa Cartel is still immensely powerful in the region.

And for critics of Mexico's president, this lays bare the failure of his strategy against the drug cartels. Some even say he has no strategy at all.

What was El Chapo's role in Mexico's drug trade?
"El Chapo" (or "Shorty") ran the Sinaloa cartel across northern Mexico.

Over time, it became one of the biggest traffickers of drugs to the US. El Chapo escaped a Mexican jail through a tunnel in 2015, but was later arrested. He was extradited to the United States in 2017.

He was accused of having helped export hundreds of tonnes of cocaine into the US and of conspiring to manufacture and distribute heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana.

El Chapo, 62, was found guilty in New York of 10 charges, including drug trafficking and money laundering.

Who are 'El Chapo's' children?
Guzmán has been married three times. Estimates of the number of offspring, from wives and girlfriends, vary from eight to 15.

Ovidio Guzmán López is thought to be one of four children born to the drug kingpin's second wife, Griselda Lopez Perez.

More prominent are his older brothers by Guzmán's first marriage to Maria Alejandrina Salazar Hernández- Ivan Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, both 36.

Ivan Archivaldo has developed a reputation for an extravagant lifestyle and flaunting his wealth on social media.

The jailing of "El Chapo" threw up the question of who should now lead the Sinaloa cartel.

There are reports of infighting between some of the Guzmán sons, known as "los chapitos", and the co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada.

Zambada has been trying to oust the sons, VICE news reported in July, quoting sources in the mountains of Sinaloa state. Gunmen are said to have been defecting to work for Zambada.

Jesús Alfredo is wanted in the US on allegations of drug-trafficking and is on the most-wanted list of US Drug Enforcement Administration.

Ivan Archivaldo has also been charged by the US authorities.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-50101739.

 

[sweep_shot]

El Chapo's wife Emma Coronel Aispuro arrested in US over 'drug trafficking'

The wife of jailed Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán has been arrested in the US on suspicion of drug trafficking, US authorities say.

Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, was detained at Dulles International Airport outside Washington DC.

She is charged with participating in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana.

Guzmán is currently serving a life sentence in New York for drug trafficking and money laundering.

The 63-year-old is a former head of the Sinaloa cartel, which officials say was the biggest supplier of drugs to the US.

His trial in 2019 heard shocking revelations about his life, from drugging and raping girls as young as 13 to carrying out the cold-blooded murders of former cartel members and rivals.

Ms Coronel Aispuro is due to appear in a federal court in DC via video conference, the US justice department said.

As well as facing drug trafficking charges, she is also accused of conspiring with others to help her husband escape from prison in Mexico in 2015.

He was sprung from Mexico's maximum-security Altiplano prison after his sons bought a property near the prison and a GPS watch smuggled into the prison gave diggers his exact location. He escaped by riding a specially adapted small motorcycle through the tunnel.

Court documents said Ms Coronel Aispuro was allegedly involved in planning another prison escape for her husband before he was extradited to the US in January 2017.

She has not commented on the charges.

Ms Coronel Aispuro is a dual US-Mexico citizen and the mother of twins with Guzman. She attended nearly every day of her husband's three-month trial in New York, during which she heard not only grim accounts of murder and rape, but also claims he spied on her and other mistresses.

She stayed loyal, saying at the end of the trial: "I don't know my husband as the person they are trying to show him as, but rather I admire him as the human being that I met, and the one that I married."

Guzmán came from a poor family in Sinaloa state, north-west Mexico. His organised crime business grew so big that he entered Forbes' 2009 list of the world's richest men at number 701, with an estimated worth of $1bn (£709m).

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56163400.

 

[MenInG]

The wife of infamous Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán has appeared in court in Washington DC.

Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, is accused of helping Guzmán run the Sinaloa drugs cartel and assisting in his prison escape in 2015, court records show.

She pleaded guilty to a range of charges including conspiracy to distribute illegal drugs.

Guzmán, 63, is currently serving a life sentence in Colorado for drug trafficking and money laundering.

Authorities say the Sinaloa cartel was the biggest supplier of drugs to the US.

Guzmán's trial in 2019 heard shocking revelations about his life, from drugging and raping girls as young as 13 to carrying out the cold-blooded murders of former cartel members and rivals.

Ms Coronel Aispuro, a former beauty queen, was arrested at Dulles International Airport in Washington DC in February and charged with conspiring to distribute 5kg or more of cocaine, 1kg or more of heroin, 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and 1,000kg or more of cannabis, as well as aiding and abetting.

Prosecutors are accusing her of helping Guzmán to traffic drugs between 2012 and 2014 by relaying messages, and then continuing to deliver messages while visiting him in a Mexican prison after his arrest in February 2014.

She is also accused of playing a key role in her husband's escape from prison in 2015.

Guzmán was sprung from Mexico's maximum-security Altiplano prison via an elaborate tunnel escape. His sons bought a property near the prison, and smuggled in a GPS watch, giving diggers his exact location. Guzmán escaped by riding a specially adapted small motorcycle through the tunnel.

Court documents said Ms Coronel Aispuro was allegedly involved in planning another prison escape for her husband before he was extradited to the US in January 2017.

Sources close to the case have told several news agencies, including AFP and the New York Times, that Ms Coronel Aispuro will plead guilty to at least some of the charges. She could face life in prison and be fined up to $10 million (£7.1 million).

Who is Emma Coronel Aispuro?
Ms Coronel Aispuro is a dual US-Mexico citizen, a former beauty pageant winner, journalism student and the mother of twins with Guzmán. According to previous interviews given to US media, she first met him at a dance when she was 17 and he was 49.

She attended nearly every day of her husband's three-month trial in New York, during which she heard not only grim accounts of murder and rape, but also claims that he had spied on her and other mistresses.

She came under the media spotlight during that trial.

In one instance, she appeared to laugh during the tearful testimony of one of Guzmán's mistresses. On another day she and Guzmán wore similar velvet jackets, which many people interpreted as a show of solidarity.

She remained supportive of Guzmán throughout, saying at the end of the trial: "I don't know my husband as the person they are trying to show him as, but rather I admire him as the human being that I met, and the one that I married."

Guzmán came from a poor family in Sinaloa state, north-west Mexico. His organised crime business grew so big that he entered Forbes' 2009 list of the world's richest men at number 701, with an estimated worth of $1bn (£709m).

BBC

 

[leonidas_alexandar]

Some of the stuff that I saw in documentaries and read about these drug cartels really sent some scary chills down my spine. And some of these gangs associated with cartels wreak havoc in the US too.

The violence these guys deal in is unimaginable.

 

[daytrader]

Mexican drug trafficker ‘El Chapo’ sentenced to life in prison in the U.S. seeks to reopen case

The defense of Mexican drug trafficker Joaquín Guzmán Lorea, known as 'El Chapo' and sentenced to life in prison in the United States, has asked Judge Brian Cogan to dismiss the sentence and order his release, as well as the holding of a new trial or a new evidentiary hearing to keep the case 'alive'.

In the brief they have criticized the legal team that defended the defendant and assured that "he was denied the right to effective assistance of counsel", since those he hired in his personal capacity "did not give him effective assistance" by not requesting the review of extradition documentation at trial, not objecting to motions filed by the government or exploring the possibility of a plea agreement.

According to 'Milenio', the extradition documents were challenged in a district court, which claimed it did not have standing to do so, so the defense believes that the request "was tainted by fraud on the part of the US authorities". They also allege that an "incorrect" rule subsequently approved caused the trial to take place in Brooklyn instead of Texas or California.

They also point out that counsel's decision not to require in camera inspection of the documents filed in Mexico prevented El Chapo from being able to appeal and "make a proper record in support of his specialty waiver challenge."

They have in turn argued that although "it was unlikely" that he would be acquitted, "the cumulative effect of the errors" made by this defense team deprived him of a fair trial.

However, according to the aforementioned media in a previous appeal the court already concluded that the counsel "conducted the trial with diligence and impartiality", after which it confirmed the sentence and the procedure carried out. The Supreme Court also denied the appeal in early June.

Although the document was filed eight weeks ago, so far there has been no response from the magistrate who conducted the trial and to whom this new motion is addressed.

MSN

 

[daytrader]

Ovidio Guzman arrest: Mexico capture son of drug lord 'El Chapo' as city of Culiacan descends into heavy fighting
Social media footage appeared to show heavy fighting across the city of Culiacan after security forces captured Ovidio Guzman, one of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's sons. Three years ago, an attempt to arrest him ended in humiliation for Mexico's president.

Gunfights have broken out in the capital of Mexico's Sinaloa state after security forces captured one of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's sons, who is wanted by the US on drug trafficking charges.

Defence Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said Army and National Guard personnel captured 32-year-old Ovidio Guzman in a pre-dawn operation in Culiacan.

Three years ago, an attempt to arrest Ovidio ended in humiliation for the government when President Andrew Manuel Lopez Obrador ordered the military to let him go after gunmen shot up the city with high-powered weapons.

...
https://news.sky.com/story/ovidio-g...as-city-descends-into-heavy-fighting-12780745

 

[daytrader]

Mexico’s former drugs tsar Genaro Garcia Luna convicted for aiding El Chapo cartel
Garcia Luna took millions in bribes from Sinaloa gang, Brooklyn corruption trial told

A former Mexican law enforcement official once in charge of the fight against drug traffickers has been convicted at a US corruption trial over his ties to the Sinaloa cartel.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said Genaro Garcia Luna accepted millions of dollars in bribes from the cartel once run by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in exchange for protection from arrest, safe passage for cocaine shipments and tipoffs about forthcoming law enforcement operations.

Garcia Luna is one of the highest-ranking Mexican officials ever accused of ties to drug trafficking. He led Mexico’s Federal Investigation Agency from 2001 to 2005 and was public security minister from 2006. He worked closely with US counter-narcotics and intelligence agencies as part of former President Felipe Calderon’s crackdown on cartels.

During a four-week trial, jurors heard from nine convicted cartel members who agreed to cooperate with prosecutors’ investigation and testified about the bribes Garcia Luna received. Saritha Komatireddy, a prosecutor, told jurors the cartel could not have shipped drugs without his complicity.

“These leaders paid the defendant bribes for protection – and they got what they paid for,” Komatireddy said in her closing argument, referring to Guzman and two other top-ranking Sinaloa cartel figures.

Garcia Luna, she said, “used his official government position to make millions of dollars for himself from the people he was supposed to prosecute”.

...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-us-sinaloa-cartel-drugs-el-chapo-guzman-gang

 

[daytrader]

Mexico cartel apologises for kidnapping Americans, returns bodies
The cartel handed over five of its members suspected to be behind the abduction to authorities.

Suspected drug cartel members have handed over five purported henchmen as a would-be apology for the abduction of four Americans in the Mexican border city of Matamoros, according to media and a source familiar with the investigation.

The Scorpions faction of the Gulf Cartel on Thursday apologised to the residents of Matamoros, the Mexican woman who died in the cartel shootout, and the four Americans and their families.

“We have decided to turn over those who were directly involved and responsible in the events, who at all times acted under their own decision-making and lack of discipline,” the letter reads, adding that those individuals had gone against the cartel’s rules, which include “respecting the life and wellbeing of the innocent.”

Two of the Americans and a Mexican woman died after gunmen opened fire on the United States citizens shortly after their arrival in Matamoros on March 3. The four Americans were found on Monday on the edge of the city, by which time two of them were dead.

...
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023...ologises-for-americans-kidnap-bodies-returned

 

[BouncerGuy]

Leader of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel arrested in Texas

One of the world's most powerful drug lords, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, leader of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, has been arrested by US federal agents in El Paso, Texas.

Zambada, 76, founded the criminal organisation with Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who is currently jailed in the US.

Arrested with Zambada on Thursday was Guzman's son, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, said the US justice department.

In February, Zambada was charged by US prosecutors with a conspiracy to make and distribute fentanyl, a drug more powerful than heroin that has been blamed for the US opioid crisis.

Details of the arrests of the two men remain unclear, but it appears they flew into the United States.

Citing Mexican and US officials, the Wall Street Journal reports that Zambada was tricked into boarding the plane by a high-ranking Sinaloa member following a months-long operation by Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI.

The paper added that Zambada believed he was going to inspect clandestine airfields in Mexico.

Officials said Zambada was "lured" onto a private plane under "false pretences" by Guzman Lopez, the New York Times reports.

Zambada believed the plane would fly south in Mexico but instead it flew north and landed in El Paso, said Fox News Correspondent Bryan Llenas citing law enforcement sources.

Guzman Lopez surrendered to US authorities and turned on Zambada because he “blamed Mayo for the capture of his father”, Mr Llenas added.

In a written statement on Thursday evening, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said the two men lead "one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organisations in the world".

"Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Justice Department will not rest until every single cartel leader, member and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable,” he added.

American prosecutors say the Sinaloa cartel is the biggest supplier of drugs to the US.

US authorities have previously noted that fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45.

The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had been offering a reward of up to $15m (£12m) for Zambada's capture.

During Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman’s trial in 2019, his lawyers accused Zambada of bribing the “entire” Mexican government in exchange for living openly without fear of prosecution.

"In truth [Guzman] controlled nothing," Guzman’s lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, told jurors. "Mayo Zambada did," he claimed.

According to the US state department, Zambada is also the owner of several legitimate businesses in Mexico, including “a large milk company, a bus line and a hotel”, as well as real estate assets.

Alongside fentanyl charges, he is also facing charges in the US ranging from drug trafficking, murder, kidnapping, money laundering and organised crime.

In May, Zambada’s nephew - Eliseo Imperial Castro, who was known as "Cheyo Antrax" - was killed in an ambush in Mexico. He was also wanted by US authorities.

Zambada is arguably the biggest drug lord in the world and certainly the most influential in the Americas.

He had evaded authorities for decades, and as such, his arrest has come as a shock in Mexico.

In a statement, US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said the Sinaloa cartel "pioneered the manufacture of fentanyl and has for years trafficked it into our country, killing hundreds of thousands of Americans and devastating countless communities".

FBI director Chris Wray said the arrests are "an example of the FBI's and our partners' commitment to dismantling violent transnational criminal organisations like the Sinaloa Cartel," he said.

As more information emerges, Zambada's arrest will no doubt be heralded by President Joe Biden's administration as one of the most significant operations by the DEA in years.

Zambada co-founded the Sinaloa cartel in the wake of the collapse of the Guadalajara cartel at the end of the 1980s.

While Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was the public face of the organisation and the most notorious of the two men, many believed it was in fact El Mayo who was its real leader.

Not only ruthless, he was also innovative, creating and maintaining some of the earliest links with Colombian cartels to flood the US with cocaine and heroin.

And more latterly, fentanyl.

His leadership of the criminal empire has endured in the face of changing presidents in Mexico and the US, amid repeated anti-drug offensives from successive governments and constant efforts by his enemies in other drug-trafficking organisations to bring him down.

That is no mean feat in the violent, dangerous and treacherous underworld in which he has operated as an unassailable kingpin for many years.

Yet that extraordinary resilience appears to have run out in El Paso, Texas – a city blighted by the influx of the synthetic opioid, fentanyl, much of which was smuggled in by his organisation.

BBC

 

[BouncerGuy]

How cartel leader 'El Mayo' Zambada was lured to US in elaborate sting

Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada is one of most notorious names in drug war history, synonymous with the fearsome power and corrosive influence of the most important drug cartel in the world.

The last of an original generation of drug cartel leaders, he created the Sinaloa Cartel alongside Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman from the remnants of the Guadalajara Cartel after it collapsed in 1989.

But unlike his infamous partner who was twice jailed and escaped, El Mayo was able to evade capture for some 35 years. Until now.

US authorities arrested him in El Paso, Texas on Thursday. He has already pleaded not guilty to multiple charges in federal court in Texas.

He was lured to the US as part of an elaborate sting operation, masterminded by the son of his former partner, El Chapo. Joaquin Guzman Lopez, one of the heirs to El Chapo’s operation, was arrested alongside Zambada having led him to believe he was travelling to northern Mexico to look at prospective properties for clandestine airstrips.

“Are you worried of being captured?” Zambada was asked in 2010 by the late Mexican journalist, Julio Scherer García, who had travelled deep into the mountains for an unprecedented interview with the drug lord.

“The idea of being jailed gives me panic,” he answered. “I’m not sure I have what it takes to kill myself. I’d like to think I do and that I’d take my own life.”

When it came to it, however, either he didn’t have the means or the opportunity.

For someone who exercised such caution over so many years, it seems extraordinary that Zambada was duped aged 76. Perhaps it was always going to take something unique to see him in custody.

“It doesn’t surprise me that Zambada didn’t go willingly,” says Mike Vigil, a former DEA agent. “He is in his 70s, in poor health and already said that prison was his greatest fear.”

The arrests – and possible plea deal between the sons of El Chapo, known as Los Chapitos, and the US Government – begs the question of who will take control of the Sinaloa Cartel.

After El Chapo Guzman was arrested and extradited to the US in 2016, a round of bloodletting began as rival factions wrestled for control of territory as well as fought opposing drug gangs who sensed weakness.

Even more shocking, and violent, was the response of the Sinaloa Cartel’s foot soldiers when their leader, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, was arrested in October 2019.

After he was detained, hundreds of gunmen descended on the city of Culiacan and opened fire on civilian, police and military targets with .50 calibre weapons and rocket launchers. Eventually, the authorities handed Ovidio Guzman back to his men to bring the fighting to an end.

He was later re-arrested, extradited and is currently awaiting trial in a US prison.

Mike Vigil thinks a similar explosion of violence, which became known as the Culiacanazo, might be avoided this time around:

“The Sinaloa Cartel has a very strong bench of possible leaders who could take over including El Chapo’s brother,” he says.

In fact, Mr Vigil argues, the "Kingpin strategy" – that is focusing on bringing down individual cartel leaders – is rarely successful.

“Under the administration of (then-Mexican President Felipe) Calderon, it only tended to create internal conflict within the cartels which then led to a bloodbath.”

If that happens this time, suggests former DEA agent Mike Vigil, “the only winner would be their rivals, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG)”.

That said, moments of flux and possible power vacuums such as this one are deeply unpredictable. The Mexican authorities have already sent additional forces to the state of Sinaloa ahead of any flare-up of violence.

The other obvious question over Zambada’s arrest is: why now?

The operation was planned for months. However, some reports say there was also an opportunistic element to it. When the various elements behind the ruse appeared to be coming together, despite some scepticism among the US authorities, they ultimately decided they had nothing lose by trying it.

The bigger reason behind the timing, though, was revealed by the words of the US Attorney General Merrick Garland in a video message confirming the arrests:

“Fentanyl is the deadliest threat our country has ever faced”, he said promising that the US justice department “will not rest until every single cartel leader, member and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable."

Fentanyl overdoses are now the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45. It is a staggering statistic and one that has perhaps focussed minds in the Biden administration, especially in an election year.

Both Los Chapitos and El Mayo have made billions through fentanyl, which is easy to produce and transport without the need for large coca plantations in the Andes as with the manufacture of cocaine.

Experts say that shutting down the smuggling of fentanyl altogether is virtually impossible. It is simply too profitable to the cartels and too riven into the modern landscape of Mexico’s drug war.

However, US law enforcement wants to hurt the cartels that are producing it, diminish their influence and, wherever possible, dismantle their leadership.

The capture of El Mayo Zambada – even if aging, in poor health and captured in a double-cross – was always going to remain a key part of that strategy.

BBC