International

The United States arrests Mayo Zambada, co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel

The United States arrested Ismael ‘el Mayo’ Zambada, leader and co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, in Texas on Thursday, who had been wanted by the US authorities for decades and had a reward of 15 million dollars, according to the Department of Justice.

Along with Zambada, Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of Joaquín “el Chapo” Guzmán, was arrested.

“The Department of Justice has arrested two other alleged leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world. Ismael Zambada García, or ‘El Mayo’, co-founder of the Cartel, and Joaquín Guzmán López, son of his other co-founder, were arrested today in El Paso, Texas,” the Department of Justice emphasizes in a statement.

The department highlights that both men “face multiple charges in the United States for leading the Cartel’s criminal operations, including its lethal fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks.”

In February, a New York prosecutor charged Zambada for the fifth time with the crimes of manufacturing and distributing fentanyl in the United States.

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In addition, the Prosecutor’s Office raised the reward from 5 to 15 million dollars for anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest of Zambada, information that can be sent to the Department of Justice by phone, email and even social networks.

“Fentanyl is the most lethal drug threat that our country has ever faced, and the Department of Justice will not rest until every leader, member and associate of the cartel responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable,” the text highlights.

The Department of Justice, in addition, highlights the detention of other leaders and associates of the Sinaloa Cartel, such as: El Chapo; another of the sons of the Chapo and alleged leader of the Cartel, Ovidio Guzmán López; and the alleged main hitman of the Cartel, Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas or ‘El Nini’.

Al Chapo Guzmán was arrested in Mexico in January 2016 after starring in two escapes in 2001 and 2015, and extradited to the United States in January 2017 where he was sentenced in July 2019 to life imprisonment plus an additional 30 years.

For its part, the Drug Control Administration (DEA) indicated that ‘May’ will “soon face justice in a court of justice in the United States.”

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Regarding Joaquín Guzmán López, the DEA stressed that, in 2017, he and his brothers – known as ‘los Chapitos’, “allegedly took control of the Sinaloa Cartel after El Chapo was extradited to the United States.”

The arrest of ‘Mayo’ Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of ‘Chapo’ Guzmán, occurred through a betrayal that led them to think that they were inspecting airfields in Mexican territory instead of landing in American territory, where they were arrested, according to The Wall Street Journal.

According to U.S. National Security Investigations officials told the newspaper, Zambada and Guzmán López, alias ‘el Güero’, thought they were inspecting clandestine airfields in Mexico, but were taken to the vicinity of El Paso (Texas) where FBI agents were waiting for them.

The operation had been prepared for months and had various US federal agencies and agents armed with rifles. Zambada is one of the most wanted criminals in the United States, who had put a reward of 15 million dollars for information that led to his capture.

Agents of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office. (CBP) guarded this afternoon the private plane without a license plate in which Ismael ‘el Mayo’ Zambada, leader and co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, and Joaquín Guzmán López, alias ‘el Güero’, two of the most wanted drug lords of the United States, were arrested.

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According to EFE, the Beechcraft King Air plane was still in custody this afternoon after it was confirmed that the Mayo Zambada landed on it in U.S. territory bordering Mexico.

The scene of this arrest, surrounded by mystery, was the discreet private airport of Santa Teresa, New Mexico, in Dona Ana County, very close to El Paso (Texas).

International

Trump urges Putin to reach peace deal

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his desire for Russian President Vladimir Putin to “reach a deal” to end the war in Ukraine, while also reaffirming his willingness to impose sanctions on Russia.

“I want to see him reach an agreement to prevent Russian, Ukrainian, and other people from dying,” Trump stated during a press conference in the Oval Office at the White House.

“I think he will. I don’t want to have to impose secondary tariffs on Russian oil,” the Republican leader added, recalling that he had already taken similar measures against Venezuela by sanctioning buyers of the South American country’s crude oil.

Trump also reiterated his frustration over Ukraine’s resistance to an agreement that would allow the United States to exploit natural resources in the country—a condition he set in negotiations to end the war.

International

Deportation flight lands in Venezuela; government denies criminal gang links

A flight carrying 175 Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrived in Caracas on Sunday. This marks the third group to return since repatriation flights resumed a week ago, and among them is an alleged member of a criminal organization, according to Venezuelan authorities.

Unlike previous flights operated by the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa, this time, an aircraft from the U.S. airline Eastern landed at Maiquetía Airport, on the outskirts of Caracas, shortly after 2:00 p.m. with the deportees.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who welcomed the returnees at the airport, stated that the 175 repatriated individuals were coming back “after being subjected, like all Venezuelans, to persecution” and dismissed claims that they belonged to the criminal organization El Tren de Aragua.

However, Cabello confirmed that “for the first time in these flights we have been carrying out, someone of significance wanted by Venezuelan justice has arrived, and he is not from El Tren de Aragua.” Instead, he belongs to a gang operating in the state of Trujillo. The minister did not disclose the individual’s identity or provide details on where he would be taken.

International

Son of journalist José Rubén Zamora condemns father’s return to prison as “illegal”

Guatemalan court decides Wednesday whether to convict journalist José Rubén Zamora

The son of renowned journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, José Carlos Zamora, has denounced as “illegal” the court order that sent his father back to a Guatemalan prison on March 3, after already spending 819 days behind barsover a highly irregular money laundering case.

“My father’s return to prison was based on an arbitrary and illegal ruling. It is also alarming that the judge who had granted him house arrest received threats,” José Carlos Zamora told EFE in an interview on Saturday.

The 67-year-old journalist was sent back to prison inside the Mariscal Zavala military barracks on March 3, when Judge Erick García upheld a Court of Appeals ruling that overturned the house arrest granted to him in October. Zamora had already spent 819 days in prison over an alleged money laundering case.

His son condemned the situation as “unacceptable”, stating that the judge handling the case “cannot do his job in accordance with the law due to threats against his life.”