By The opinion
May 10, 2024, 1:47 PM EDT
Ismael “El Mayo” Zambadacurrent leader of Sinaloa Cartel (although some research affirms that it has always been) is not in good health, as announced by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in its most recent National Drug Assessment, ensuring that his illnesses put his leadership in the face of the drug at risk. the criminal organization.
Although the DEA specifies that the cartel does not have a single leader, as it functions as an “umbrella” model that encompasses “four different criminal organizations that cooperate with each other,” one of them is led by “El Mayo,” whom it describes as “co-director of the Sinaloa Cartel for more than three decades.”
Since 2020 the agent Mike Vigilwho was director of International Operations of the DEA, reported that Zambada suffered from diabetes and goutwhich has been confirmed in the Evaluation, after gathering reports that reveal the boss’s poor health that has been complicated by these illnesses, and this could be taken advantage of by others to overthrow his leadership.
The anti-drug agency indicates that the Sinaloa Cartel has other factions: Los Chapitosmade up of the children of his former partner Joaquín Guzmán Loera; The Guanos, made up of followers of Aureliano Guzmán Loera; and the group of Rafael Quinterothe first of these factions being the one that wants to take power from the Mayo.
The drug dealer who has never been arrested
Ismael Zambada turned 76 on January 1, it weighs on him a reward of 15 million dollars for information that leads to his capture, since up to now it is almost impossible to locate him, despite the fact that some of his relatives have been imprisoned.
That young man from the countryside who even washed truck tires approached organized crime in the 1970s, leaving his humble past behind, adding millions of dollars to his bank accounts, but the taste for his origin never went away. .
According to journalist Anabel Hernández, He does not use escorts when he is in his native Sinaloa, because for decades governments – and people themselves – have protected it. The writer also stated in her latest book that “El Mayo” has a condition in his knee that causes the liquid that accumulates to be drained from time to time.
In the only interview granted by “El Mayo”, he told the journalist Julio Scherer that the mountain was his home, his family and his protection, if it is not discovered and if his health continues to decline, it could also be the place where he breathes his last.
Keep reading:
– DEA denies the “Chapitos” for allegedly stopping them from manufacturing fentanyl and describes it as a “publicity show.”
– Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG, causes of the worst drug crisis in the history of the United States: DEA.