The Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) warned that only immunity will save Ken Salazar, former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, from “lies” and “serious violations of the law” over the operation in which Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, was detained.
It also revealed that the pilot of the aircraft in which the cartel leader was transported has been fully identified.
Regarding the matter, the former diplomatic representative reaffirmed that the United States played no role and that its agents did not intervene on Mexican territory. “It simply was not our plane, it was not our pilot, and it was not our operation,” he posted on his X account.
The aircraft in which the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel was transported was added to the collection of the War Eagles Air Museum after remaining under the custody of the FBI.
In recent days, several media outlets revealed that the FBI donated to the War Eagles Air Museum in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, the aircraft in which El Mayo was transported to the United States on July 25, 2024, after being handed over by his former associate Joaquín Guzmán López.
On Tuesday, during her morning press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum recalled that at the time, then-Ambassador Ken Salazar stated that no U.S. agency had participated in the operation.
“But it is very important in the bilateral relationship that you cannot say one thing one day and another later when it involves interference in Mexico. That is why we ask: who is lying?” she said.
In response, yesterday the former U.S. diplomatic representative posted on social media:
“The President Claudia Sheinbaum has asked a question: ‘Who is telling the truth?’ (…) We communicated with the Mexican government to say that it was not our plane, it was not our pilot, and it was not our operation.”
He recalled that both he and then-U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland contacted Mexican authorities at the time to clarify that Washington had not conducted any operation in Mexico.
“The truth is the truth (…) I write about this episode in my book Borders: My Struggle for an Inclusive America,” the former ambassador insisted.
Reproach
Regarding the matter, Raúl Jiménez, head of the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Competency Control of the FGR, stated during a press conference:
“What is being reproached to Ambassador Salazar is that he acted falsely; as a result, he violated, contravened, and attacked the regulatory framework of international diplomacy.”
The head of the agency, Ernestina Godoy, reported during the event that authorities are investigating whether the former diplomatic representative bears responsibility for lying or concealing information regarding the removal of El Mayo.
She recalled:
“On August 9, 2024, then-Ambassador Salazar stated that his government did not participate in that operation, that it was not a U.S. aircraft, nor its pilot, nor its agents or personnel in Mexico, but rather an operation between cartels.”
However, she emphasized that, as part of the investigation, authorities will determine whether the diplomat made false statements, since there could be three serious situations:
- A series of violations of Mexican and international law.
- An agreement outside the law.
- A lie told by a U.S. diplomat.
She added that this would constitute a violation of the principle of good faith in diplomatic relations.
El Mayo
Raúl Jiménez clarified that there would not be criminal consequences against Salazar.
“The consequences are not necessarily criminal, and they are not because ambassadors, while performing their diplomatic representation, enjoy what is known under international law as diplomatic immunity,” he explained.
Godoy also reported:
“We have already identified the person who piloted the aircraft, specifying that the runway from which it departed was not authorized for operations. In addition, it was confirmed that this aircraft had altered identification markings.”
She specified that the pilot’s identity was confirmed through voice analysis.
“Air Navigation Services in Mexican Airspace provided the audio recording of the moment when the pilot of the aircraft transporting Ismael N. (El Mayo) requested a transponder code from the control tower at Ciudad Juárez Airport, Chihuahua, in order to enter the United States. In addition, through forensic audio examinations, the pilot was identified,” the official explained.
The head of the Specialized Regional Control Prosecutor’s Office of the FGR, David Boone de la Garza, added that the pilot had previously been deported from the United States, continued operating in Mexico, and was later arrested before being returned to Washington as part of the mass prisoner transfers that took place in 2025.
“The pilot was deported, continued operating and committing crimes in Mexico—that is the information on record; he was arrested for illegal firearm possession and was handed over to the United States government under the National Security Law,” he said.
Although the authorities did not disclose the name or identifying details of the individual, the only person identified as a pilot among those transferred to the United States is Mauro Alberto Núñez Ojeda, known as El Jando, who was arrested on February 11 in Jesús María, Culiacán, and who later reached a guilty plea agreement in Washington on drug trafficking charges.
Source: milenio
