“If one of the U.S. agencies participated in this operation, they would be violating international treaties and the (Mexican) constitution,” President Claudia Sheinbaum said at her daily press conference.<\/p>\n
Zambada was arrested in the United States<\/a> in July 2024 alongside Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of Sinaloa cartel co-founder Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who is also imprisoned.<\/p>\n When Guzman Lopez pleaded guilty<\/a> to U.S. narcotrafficking charges last December, he admitted to having kidnapped Zambada to bring him to the United States \u2014 a betrayal meant to win favor with U.S. authorities. According to details revealed in Guzman’s plea deal<\/a>, Zambada was ambushed, loaded onto a plane, drugged and spirited across the border to the United States.<\/p>\n The U.S. Embassy in Mexico said in 2024 that no U.S. agency had participated in the operation, Mexican government secretary Rosa Icela Rodriguez said at the morning news conference.<\/p>\n “The versions are contradictory. Someone lied,” she said.<\/p>\n “What agreements did that agency have, or who else participated with the criminal group?” Sheinbaum said, according to La Jornada<\/a>. “In this case, everything seems to indicate that the ambassador (Ken Salazar) lied.”<\/p>\n Last August, Zambada pleaded guilty<\/a> to federal charges related to his role as a co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, including drug trafficking, gun offenses and money laundering. Federal prosecutors alleged<\/a> that Zambada and other Sinaloa cartel leaders were responsible for massive quantities of heroin, cocaine and fentanyl and other illegal drugs being distributed into the U.S.<\/p>\n Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada<\/p>\n CBS News<\/p>\n The war between factions of the Sinaloa cartel unleashed after the arrest of Zambada has left thousands dead<\/a> and missing.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump has repeatedly said that drug cartels control Mexico, warning he will use boots on the ground south of the border if Sheinbaum doesn’t crack down on criminal gangs.<\/p>\n Sheinbaum has downplayed the threats, emphasizing that Mexican soldiers use U.S. intelligence to track down narcotraffickers \u2014 as with the killing of cartel boss Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera<\/a> in a raid in February.<\/p>\n In April, two CIA agents died<\/a> in unclear circumstances during an anti-drug operation alongside soldiers and state police in the border state of Chihuahua \u2014\u00a0without apparent authorization<\/a> from Mexico’s federal government.<\/p>\n Sheinbaum’s administration opened an investigation, still ongoing, into whether the presence of the agents represented a violation of national security laws, creating fresh diplomatic friction.<\/p>\n Days later, the U.S. Justice Department indicted<\/a> the then-governor of Sinaloa, Ruben Rocha Moya, as well as nine other current and former officials, on drug charges.<\/p>\n Rocha Moya is a member of Sheinbaum’s ruling left-leaning Morena party \u2014 and a close ally of her mentor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.<\/p>\n Sheinbaum responded to the indictments by requesting the U.S. provide “irrefutable” evidence<\/a> against Rocha Moya before potentially extraditing him.<\/p>\n \n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n \n Go deeper with The Free Press\n <\/p>\n![\"cropped22el-mayo22.png](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/cropped22el-mayo22.png#.png\")
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