Violence and instability in the state of Sinaloa have been exacerbated after the fall of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, on July 25, 2024, which later triggered an internal war between “Los Chapitos” and “La Mayiza” that continues today.
However, before that fateful day for the veteran boss, he had tried to explore an agreement with which he supposedly bet on reducing violence in Sinaloa and in Mexico in general.
According to Diego Enrique Osorno’s opinion column “Detective,” Zambada García sought a solution to the crisis of violence that plagues the country on his own terms: “Before being captured and illegally taken to Santa Teresa, New Mexico, Ismael Zambada explored the possibility of participating in the conversation of an agreement to begin a process of reducing violence, and even peace, in Sinaloa and the rest of the country,” reads the Milenio publication.
Without specifying dates or with which political actors, Zambada would have tried to negotiate an agreement that contemplated a profound reform of the Mexican justice system, proposing the implementation of a transitional justice system.
In this agreement, he and other bosses willing to accept their crimes would have had the opportunity to collaborate with justice, offer reparations to the victims and commit to not repeating their crimes. In exchange, the sentences would not exceed seven years in prison.
However, despite the fact that “El Mayo”’s agreement represented a possibility of reducing violence, it did not materialize and his alleged plan was frustrated after the betrayal of “Los Chapitos”, sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who allegedly ambushed him and took him against his will to the United States, where he was finally captured.
This event unleashed the war in Sinaloa on September 9, 2024, clashes that continue to date.
Trial against “El Mayo”, the latest developments
On January 15, 2025, Ismael Zambada García appeared again in the Federal Court of the Eastern District of New York. During this hearing, the drug trafficker firmly expressed his desire to continue being represented by his lawyer Frank Pérez, despite a possible conflict of interest.
This conflict arose because Pérez also defends his son, Vicente Zambada Niebla, known as “El Vicentillo.” Zambada’s son, who reached a plea agreement with the US prosecution, could be called to testify against his father in an eventual trial.
At the hearing, federal judge Brian Cogan explained the legal implications of this conflict of interest. However, Zambada, 77 years old and looking visibly fragile but firm, read a statement in Spanish in which he made it clear that he preferred to keep Pérez as his lawyer, voluntarily renouncing the possibility of hiring an independent lawyer.
History of drug trafficking in Mexico
This process is part of the charges for which Zambada was arrested in July 2024 at a small airport in New Mexico, in what he himself described as an ambush orchestrated by Joaquín Guzmán López, one of “Los Chapitos.” According to “El Mayo,” he was tricked by Guzmán López, who allegedly moved him to the United States in exchange for judicial benefits for him and his family, especially for his brother, Ovidio Guzmán.
The drug lord faces a total of 17 charges before the US justice system, including crimes such as continuing criminal enterprise, murder, arms trafficking, and particularly trafficking in fentanyl, a highly lethal drug that has caused thousands of overdose deaths in the United States. The drug lord could even be sentenced to the death penalty.
The FGR confirmed that the
The FGR confirmed that the drug lord has open investigations in Mexico. Europa Press/Contacto/Department of State/Tv Aztec
The drug trafficker pleaded not guilty to all these charges on September 14, 2024.
In this context, the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) also confirmed on Tuesday that Zambada has several outstanding arrest warrants in Mexico.
The next hearing for “El Mayo” is scheduled for April 22, 2025. Meanwhile, Alejandro Gertz Manero’s FGR has assured that the process in Mexico will not be abandoned, despite the fact that the United States is handling the case as a priority.
Source: infobae
