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The U.S. ambassador to Mexico confirmed Friday that drug lord Ismael \u201cEl Mayo\u201d Zambada<\/a><\/span> was brought to the United States against his will when he arrived in Texas in July on a plane along with fellow drug lord Joaqu\u00edn Guzm\u00e1n L\u00f3pez.<\/p>\n Zambada\u2019s attorney had earlier claimed the longtime chief of the Sinaloa cartel had been kidnapped. But officials had not confirmed that and Zambada\u2019s age and apparent ill-health had led some to speculate he turned himself in.<\/p>\n U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar on Friday said \u201cthe evidence we saw … is that they had brought El Mayo Zambada against his will.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis was an operation between cartels, where one turned the other one in,\u201d Salazar said. Zambada\u2019s faction of the Sinaloa cartel has been engaged in fierce fighting with another faction, led by the sons of imprisoned drug kingpin Joaqu\u00edn \u201cEl Chapo\u201d Guzm\u00e1n<\/a><\/span>. Guzm\u00e1n L\u00f3pez is the half-brother of the factional leaders.<\/p>\n Salazar said no U.S. personnel, resources or aircraft were involved in the flight on which Guzm\u00e1n L\u00f3pez turned himself in, and that U.S. officials were \u201csurprised\u201d when the two showed up at an airport outside El Paso, Texas on July 25<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n Frank P\u00e9rez, Zambada\u2019s attorney, said in a statement in July that \u201cmy client neither surrendered nor negotiated any terms with the U.S. government.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoaqu\u00edn Guzm\u00e1n L\u00f3pez forcibly kidnapped my client,\u201d P\u00e9rez wrote. \u201cHe was ambushed, thrown to the ground, and handcuffed by six men in military uniforms and Joaquin. His legs were tied, and a black bag was placed over his head.\u201d<\/p>\n P\u00e9rez went on to say that Zambada, 76, was thrown in the back of a pickup truck, forced onto a plane and tied to the seat by Guzm\u00e1n L\u00f3pez.<\/p>\n In early August, Zambada made his second appearance in federal court in Texas after being taken into U.S. custody the week before.<\/p>\n Guzm\u00e1n L\u00f3pez had apparently long been in negotiations with U.S. authorities about possibly turning himself in. Guzm\u00e1n L\u00f3pez, 38, has pleaded not guilty<\/a><\/span> to drug trafficking and other charges in federal court in Chicago.<\/p>\n But U.S. officials said they had almost no warning when Guzm\u00e1n L\u00f3pez\u2019s plane landed at an airport near El Paso. Both men were arrested and remain jailed<\/a><\/span>. They are charged in the U.S. with various drug crimes.<\/p>\n Salazar said the plane had taken off from Sinaloa \u2014 the Pacific coast state where the cartel is headquartered \u2014 and had filed no flight plan. He stressed the pilot wasn\u2019t American, nor was the plane.<\/p>\n The implication is that Guzm\u00e1n L\u00f3pez intended to turn himself in, and brought Zambada with him to procure more favorable treatment, but his motives remain unclear.<\/p>\n Zambada was thought to be more involved in day-to-day operations of the cartel than his better-known and flashier boss, \u201cEl Chapo,\u201d who was sentenced to life in prison<\/a><\/span> in the U.S. in 2019.<\/p>\n