Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, known Mexican drug trafficker, arrested in El Paso

The State Department reported that Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, known as the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel and heir to “El Chapo” Gizmán, was arrested on Thursday, July 25.

According to information provided by two sources of the news portal “Reuteres”, the arrest took place at a private airport in the city of El Paso, Texas. In addition to him, Jesús Esquivel, a well-known correspondent of the weekly magazine “Proceso”, was also arrested.

Why was “El Mayo” arrested?

The leader of the Sinaloa Cartel is accused of trafficking cocaine and marijuana in the United States. He is currently 76 years old and the reward for his arrest was 15 million dollars.

The persecution against the drug trafficker increased after the increase in the sale of fentanyl in the United States, as Washington has pointed out on multiple occasions that Mexican cartels, especially the Sinaloa cartel, are responsible for the drug's presence on U.S. soil.