Bulletin From the Borderlands Special Report

El Mayo: Throwing In the Towel or Betrayed?

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Bulletin From The Borderlands is a joint project between Lethal Minds and some of the most talented OSINT analysts and independent journalists working today. Our goal is to provide you with a clear, accurate, and informative view of the world, free from censorship or bias. The Bulletin will bring you the facts, our analysis, and our evidence. We hope you find our work helps you better understand the complicated and increasingly volatile world in which we live.

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Analyze Educate : Brodie Kirkpatrick (Analyze & Educate) is a Marine Corps infantry veteran. He is a graduate San Jose State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. He runs Analyze & Educate, a podcast and associated social media pages discussing geopolitics, armed conflicts, news, and history. In his capacity with Lethal Minds he is the team lead for the Bulletin From the Borderlands, Americas Desk chief, and an editor.

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El Mayo: Throwing In the Towel or Betrayed?

Brodie Kirkpatrick

An older file photo of Ismael Zambada. (DEA)

Last month, Mexican drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was taken into U.S. federal custody. Zambada is the highest profile Mexican cartel leader to be held by the federal government since his former partner Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán was extradited to the U.S. in 2017. The 76-year-old’s capture came as a shock to many on both sides of the law. While there is much speculation over his arrest, few details have been confirmed.

Who Is El Mayo?

Ismael Zambada got his start working with the Guadalajara Cartel and other trafficking organizations in the 1980s. Zambada was known for maintaining relationships with Colombian traffickers, which was a new phenomenon for Mexican organizations at the time. As the Guadalajara Cartel began to fall apart, he became a founding leader of the Sinaloa Cartel (CDS) with El Chapo. 

While the two men co-led CDS, Chapo was seen as the public face of the cartel, while Zambada was seen as a cautious drug lord who operated in the shadows. From 1998 until his arrest last month, public appearances by Zambada were incredibly rare. Prior to July, it had been a number of years since so much as a single new photo of him had emerged. 

El Chapo was arrested for a third time in 2016, in an operation by Mexican Marines supported by U.S. Marshals and the U.S. Army’s Delta Force. After El Chapo’s arrest and extradition, which made the prospect of a third escape from prison unlikely, Zambada assumed sole control over CDS. From that point on, Zambada’s status as a legendary drug lord was cemented in narco and wider Mexican culture. While he remained one of the most wanted men in the world, Zambada was essentially a ghost; sightings of him were practically unheard of, and any new information released about him was treated with skepticism. Zamada was one of the last members of the “old guard” of Mexican cartel leaders that had not been captured or killed. 

Details and Theories On His Capture

Many details of Zambada’s capture remain unconfirmed or contested. On July 24th, Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López, a son of El Chapo, were arrested by U.S. federal authorities after their private plane landed at a remote airfield in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, just west of El Paso, Texas. López, along with several of El Chapo’s other sons, led Los Chapitos, a faction within CDS. Los Chapitos came to fruition after Zambada took full control of the cartel. While still operating under the CDS banner, tensions between Los Chapitos and the faction led by Zambada have been high in recent years. Those tensions are currently being taken into account by analysts and journalists working to piece the situation together as it develops.