By The opinion
26 Jul 2024, 08:55 AM EDT
The first photograph of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada after his arrest in El Paso, Texas, is circulating on social media.
The image shows the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel sitting, with his shirt unbuttoned and a bandage on the right side of his chest, apparently the result of medical treatment.
“El Mayo” was arrested on the afternoon of Thursday, July 25 by DEA agents, in a joint operation with special agents of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Details of his arrest have not been released, but the Justice Department confirmed the arrest of Joaquín Guzmán López, another of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera’s sons.
“El Mayo” and Guzmán López join a growing list of Sinaloa Cartel leaders and associates whom the Justice Department is holding accountable in the United States. Among them are the Cartel’s other co-founder, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, or “El Chapo”; another of El Chapo’s sons and alleged leader of the Cartel, Ovidio Guzmán López; and the Cartel’s alleged top hitman, Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, or “El Nini,” explained the Attorney General of the United States, Merrick B. Garland.
There are reports that the son of “El Chapo” had agreed to hand over “El Mayo” after an agreement was reached by Ovidio Guzmán López, “El Ratón,” who two days earlier was discharged from the U.S. prison system. He was in a jail in Chicago, Illinois.
However, the US judicial system reveals that on September 30 there is a hearing for Ovidio Guzmán López, where his true fate could be determined: an agreement with authorities or the continuation of his trial.