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A powerful Mexican drug cartel leader who eluded authorities for decades was duped into flying into the U.S., where he was arrested<\/a><\/span> alongside a son of Joaqu\u00edn \u201cEl Chapo\u201d Guzm\u00e1n, according to a U.S. law enforcement official familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n Ismael \u201cEl Mayo\u201d Zambada got on an airplane to the U.S. believing he was going somewhere else, said the official, who spoke on the condition on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. The official did not provide additional details, including who persuaded Zambada to get on the plane or where exactly he thought he was going.<\/p>\n Upon arriving in the El Paso area, Zambada and Joaqu\u00edn Guzm\u00e1n L\u00f3pez, a son of notorious drug kingpin \u201cEl Chapo,\u201d who was sentenced to life in a U.S. prison<\/a><\/span> in 2019, were immediately taken into custody by U.S. authorities, officials said.<\/p>\n Zambada, 76, appeared in federal court in El Paso on Friday morning, where a judge read the charges and informed Zambada of his rights. Zambada, who is being held without bond, has entered a plea of not guilty to slew of drug trafficking charges, court records show. His next court hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.<\/p>\n Frank Perez, a lawyer listed for Zambada, said in a message to AP that his client \u201cdid not come to the U.S. voluntarily.\u201d<\/p>\n Zambada, one of the most powerful drug lords in the world, has been a key target for the U.S. government for years in its bid to take down leaders of the Sinaloa cartel that\u2019s responsible for trafficking huge sums of drugs across the border. U.S. authorities had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to his capture.<\/p>\n His arrest \u201cstrikes at the heart of the cartel that is responsible for the majority of drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, killing Americans from coast to coast,\u201d said U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration chief Anne Milgram.<\/p>\n \u201cFentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Justice Department will not rest until every single cartel leader, member, and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable,\u201d Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Thursday.<\/p>\n Mexican President Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador said Friday that Mexico was still awaiting details about the arrests and was not involved in the operation. Although he hailed the arrests, he suggested others could step in to fill the vacuum. That\u2019s why his administration has focused on addressing the root causes of drug use and the associated violence, he said.<\/p>\n Mexican Security Secretary Rosa Icela Rodr\u00edguez said the plane took off with only the pilot from the airport in Hermosillo, Mexico. Tracking service FlightAware showed the plane stopped transmitting its altitude and speed for about 30 minutes while it was over the mountains of northern Mexico before resuming its course to the U.S. border.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a fact that one person went out from here, three people arrived there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Zambada is charged in a number of U.S. cases<\/a><\/span>, including in New York and California. Prosecutors brought a new indictment against him in New York in February, describing him as the \u201cprincipal leader of the criminal enterprise responsible for importing enormous quantities of narcotics into the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the longest-surviving capos in Mexico, Zambada was considered the cartel\u2019s strategist, more involved in day-to-day operations than his flashier and better-known boss, \u201cEl Chapo.\u201d<\/p>\n Zambada is an old-fashioned capo in an era of younger kingpins known for their flamboyant lifestyles of club-hopping and brutal tactics of beheading, dismembering and even skinning their rivals. While Zambada has fought those who challenged him, he is known for concentrating on the business side of trafficking and avoiding gruesome cartel violence that would draw attention.<\/p>\n In an April 2010 interview with the Mexican magazine Proceso, he acknowledged that he lived in fear of going to prison and would contemplate suicide rather than be captured.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m terrified of being incarcerated,\u201d Zambada said. \u201cI\u2019d like to think that, yes, I would kill myself.\u201d<\/p>\n The interview was surprising for a kingpin known for keeping his head down, but he gave strict instructions on where and when the encounter would take place, and the article gave no hint of his whereabouts.<\/p>\n Zambada reputedly won the loyalty of locals in his home state of Sinaloa and neighboring Durango through his largess, sponsoring local farmers and distributing money and beer in his birthplace of El Alamo.<\/p>\n Although little is known about Zambada\u2019s early life, he is believed to have gotten his start as an enforcer in the 1970s. By the early 1990s, he was a major player in the Juarez cartel, transporting tons of cocaine and marijuana.<\/p>\n Zambada started gaining the trust of Colombian traffickers, allegiances that helped him come out on top in the cartel world of ever-shifting alliances. Eventually he became so powerful that he broke off from the Juarez cartel, but still managed to keep strong ties with the gang and avoided a turf war. He also developed a partnership with \u201cEl Chapo\u201d Guzman that would take him to the top of the Sinaloa Cartel.<\/p>\n Zambada\u2019s detention follows some important arrests of other Sinaloa cartel figures, including one of his sons and another son of \u201cEl Chapo\u201d Guzm\u00e1n, Ovidio Guzm\u00e1n L\u00f3pez.<\/p>\n Ovidio Guzm\u00e1n L\u00f3pez was arrested and extradited to the U.S. last year. He pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking<\/a><\/span> charges in Chicago in September. The Bureau of Prisons inmate locator showed Ovidio Guzm\u00e1n L\u00f3pez was released Tuesday, but Rodr\u00edguez said U.S. authorities informed Mexico he was not freed but just had his custody changed.<\/p>\n In 2021, Zambada\u2019s son pleaded guilty in federal court in San Diego to being a leader in the Sinaloa cartel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n