Even among Mexican cartel bosses — a bunch known for lavish wealth, daring escapes and extreme brutality — Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada stood out. He was a longtime partner of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán , and together they built the Sinaloa Cartel into a global empire. Taking on an almost mythic status, he is rumored to have judges, generals and even presidents of Mexico in his pocket.
And despite more than four decades on the run as one of the world’s most wanted fugitives, he had never spent a single night in jail. Until Thursday. Zambada, 76, was arrested at a private airport near El Paso, along with El Chapo’s son Joaquín Guzmán López, the Department of Justice announced.
On Friday morning Zambada pleaded not guilty to an array of drug, weapons, money laundering and conspiracy charges, including trafficking the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl that has fueled a U.S. epidemic of overdose deaths .
A judge ordered Zambada detained with no bond and set a Wednesday court date to determine next steps. The stunning turn of events has sparked fear and uncertainty in Sinaloa, the Pacific coast state where Zambada had been credited with brokering a fragile peace between rival cartel factions. And it has generated a torrent of rumors and speculation about how exactly U.
S. authorities managed to capture a man who traveled with a heavy security detail and so routinely outfoxed his pursuers that some people called him “ghost.” Zambada’s lawyer, Frank Perez,.
