How to catch a Sinaloa cartel boss (2024)

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, Aug. 7. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.

• Everything you need to know about the Sinaloa cartel boss arrested in the U.S.
• What’s up with ‘weird’? Tim Walz and his Midwestern witticisms.
• Hot, dry weather continues to fuel fires across California.
• And here’s today’s e-newspaper

Kidnapping, surrender or ambush? Questions swirl after the capture of El Mayo

When notorious drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was sentenced to life in a U.S. prison in 2019, many believed one man had already filled the power vacuum atop the Sinaloa cartel.

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was El Chapo’s longtime partner, and helped build the Sinaloa cartel into a global empire. After spending four decades in the drug trade, he had never spent a day in jail.

That was until July 25.

Zambada and one of El Chapo’s sons, Joaquín Guzmán López, were arrested at a private airport near El Paso on drug, money-laundering and weapons charges. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Front pages of Mexican newspapers report the capture of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.

(Rodrigo Oropeza / Getty Images)

Both men are accused of smuggling fentanyl into the U.S., a synthetic opioid that killed 100,000 Americans last year. Earlier this year, prosecutors opened an investigation against Zambada for the manufacture and trafficking of fentanyl, which has become the leading cause of death for Americans between 18 and 45 years old.

Mexico’s government claims to be in the dark about what is going on, while Zambada’s lawyer alleges his client was kidnapped by El Chapo’s son in a bid to curry favor with U.S. authorities.

Times reporters and editors have followed this story extensively, sorting fact from fiction with interviews from former associates of the Sinaloa cartel and law enforcement experts. Here’s what they found:

El Mayo built his power in partnership with El Chapo

“North of the border, Zambada, 76, remains a relative unknown,” my colleague Keegan Hamilton reported. “But in Mexico and the world of organized crime, the Sinaloan kingpin has achieved an almost mythic status.”

While other cartel bosses spent lavishly, Zambada kept a low profile, preferring to reside in the sierra where he interacted with locals and engaged the community.

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, left, and Joaquín Guzmán López.

(Associated Press)

His modest living is one factor that made him elusive to law enforcement.

Zambada’s reign as a top cartel boss began in the 1980s, when Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, then Mexico’s most notorious drug trafficker, brought him in to help control drug routes. The two later found themselves in a turf war, which is when Zambada partnered with El Chapo and others to form the Sinaloa cartel.

The El Chapo-El Mayo partnership didn’t last

Three of Zambada’s sons and his brother have faced charges in the U.S. They all pleaded guilty and received relatively short sentences. One of his sons and his brother testified against El Chapo during his trial in 2019.

Keegan and foreign correspondent Kate Linthicum reported that after El Chapo’s arrest, “a violent power struggle broke out, with the former kingpin’s sons … vying with Zambada for control of the Sinaloa cartel.”

In this Jan. 19, 2017 file photo provided by U.S. law enforcement, authorities escort Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman from a plane to a waiting caravan of SUVs at Long Island MacArthur Airport, in Ronkonkoma, N.Y.

(Associated Press)

Four of El Chapo’s sons, including Guzmán Lopez — the one who Zambada was arrested with — formed a cartel faction called the Chapitos.

So how did El Chapo’s son get the drop on Zambada?

Zambada’s lawyer, Frank Perez, told Keegan and Kate that his client did not voluntarily fly across the border.

“I have no comment except to state that he did not surrender voluntarily,” Perez said. “He was brought against his will.”

Sources told Keegan “there is an unwritten code among drug traffickers that kidnapping rivals can be fair game on the battlefield, but an ambush at a parlay — a meeting to discuss a sensitive deal or broker a truce, for instance — is off limits.”

“The Chapitos played him,” a law enforcement source told Keegan. “Mayo was the last of a breed. He had a code. The kids are pit vipers.”

Guzmán López’s lawyer told reporters that his client has no deal in place with federal prosecutors.

Mexico’s government wants ‘the truth’

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said U.S. authorities kept his government in the dark.

Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador listens to his security secretary speak during his usual morning news conference on July 26.

(Alfredo Estrella / AFP / Getty Images)

Mexican officials said they did not know of the operation until the U.S. had both suspects in custody.

Keegan and Kate note how this latest incident affects relations with the U.S.’ southern neighbor:

“That Mexican officials still know so little about a major law enforcement operation executed by a close ally against two of their nationals underscored just how much security cooperation between the two nations has deteriorated under López Obrador, who has furiously defended Mexican sovereignty and has regularly accused U.S. officials of overstepping their authority on Mexican soil.”

The drug trade will survive the loss of some cartel leaders

In 2010, Zambada gave a prediction in an interview with journalist Julio Scherer García on what would happen if he were ever captured or killed.

“After a few days, we’d see that nothing had changed,” he said. “The drug problem involves millions. If the bosses are locked up or killed, their replacements are already waiting.”

More coverage:

• How independent will Mexico’s next president be? This controversy gives a hint.
• Mexico says it doesn’t have a fentanyl problem. New data reveal a hidden epidemic.
• She sang for ‘El Chapo.’ Now the cartel kingpin’s lawyer wants to be a ranchera star.
• Soldiers and civilians are dying as Mexican cartels embrace a terrifying new weapon: Land mines.

Today’s top stories

Who is Kamala Harris’ V.P. pick Tim Walz?

• As vice presidential candidate, Tim Walz brings rural roots, Midwestern sensibility but low profile.
• ‘West Coast wannabe’: GOP seeks to tie Walz to California.
• What’s up with ‘weird’? Tim Walz and his Midwestern plain talk.
• In choosing Walz, Harris seeks an everyman appeal without giving up progressive agenda.
• Harris, Walz emphasize ‘freedom’ and ‘joy,’ and press attacks on Trump, Vance in raucous first rally.

Wildfires, excessive heat, flooding...

• What it’s like to travel to Maui right now — one year after the catastrophic wildfire.
• Monsoon flooding devastates Mojave Desert town but also reveals its heart.
• The Salton Sea is now smelly all year long and making people’s asthma worse. The culprit? Bacteria.
• Edgehill fire in San Bernardino is quick and furious, but no residents are hurt.
• Dramatic photos show California landscape before and after Park fire swept through.
• What to know and how to prepare for wildfires.
• Magnitude 5.2 earthquake rattles Southern California; boulder blocked lanes of Interstate 5.

More big stories

• LeBron James and the U.S. power past Brazil to reach Olympic men’s basketball semifinals.
  Why medal ceremonies might be the biggest high-stakes event of the Olympic Games.
• Simone Biles says bow to Rebeca Andrade was ‘all about sportsmanship.’ It bothered an NFL star.
• A Palestinian leader sees new energy in U.S. — particularly young Americans — to confront Mideast crisis.
• L.A. police officials say they cannot enforce new measure targeting Airbnb party houses.
• Dozens arrested in raids targeting gang linked to LAPD officer’s killing.

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• George Skelton: After past disappointments, Harris shows courage in VP choice.
• Mary McNamara: Finally, Tim Walz puts teachers in their place: the national spotlight.
• Mark Z. Barabak: Tim Walz is having a moment. But he won’t win or lose the election for Harris.
• LZ Granderson: By picking Tim Walz as running mate, Harris shows how she aims to win.
• Anita Chabria: ‘Weird’ and kinda wonderful: Why Walz is exactly what Harris needs.
• Christopher J. Devine and Kyle C. Kopko: Tim Walz is Kamala Harris’ running mate. Will he help her win in November?

Today’s great reads

How Snoop Dogg became America’s sweetheart at the Paris Olympics. A look at the decades-long evolution of the onetime gangsta rapper who now finds himself the family-friendly star of NBC’s Olympics coverage.

Other great reads

• Metro leader and security chief battled privately as agency struggled with crime.
• Writing? Acting? Directing? Paul W. Downs says yes, please.

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

For your downtime

Going out

• 📚 A weird, whimsical game is hiding in the bookshelves at Los Angeles Public Library.
• 🍸 The most delicious, creative margaritas to try in Los Angeles.
• ⛺ 5 campsites near L.A. beloved by locals.

Staying in

• 📺 ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2 finale: Rhaenyra and Alicent’s ‘battle between pain and love.’
• 🧑‍🍳 Here’s a recipe for milk-chocolate-dipped bacon ice cream sandwiches.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.

And finally ... a great photo

Show us your favorite place in California! We’re running low on submissions. Send us photos that scream California and we may feature them in an edition of Essential California.

Today’s great photo is from Times photographer Zoë Cranfill. Two of three statues saluting the late Lakers great Kobe Bryant have been unveiled outside Crypto.com Arena, the latest a touching tribute to Bryant and his daughter, Gianna. They both died along with seven others in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020.

Have a great day, from the Essential California team

Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Defne Karabatur, fellow
Christian Orozco, assistant editor
Stephanie Chavez, deputy metro editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters

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