Betrayal and capture of Sinaloa cartel leaders spark fears of turf war
livemint.comCULIACÁN, Mexico—In this steamy city that is home to the world’s largest fentanyl smuggling organization, the stunning capture of Sinaloa cartel patriarch Ismael “El Mayo" Zambada risks sparking a bloodbath that is likely to reverberate on the streets of the U.S. The once powerful Zambada said he was betrayed by the son of his longtime associate Joaquín “El Chapo" Guzmán. Now, many fear an open war between the two first families of the Sinaloa cartel.
The 76-year-old co-founder of one of the world’s top criminal organizations was kidnapped, taken to a plane and tied to his chair with zip ties by Joaquín Guzmán López, according to Zambada’s lawyer. The U.S. Ambassador to Mexico said the plane took off from Sinaloa and headed to a tiny airport near El Paso, Texas.
Both drug bosses were arrested by U.S. agents when they stepped off the plane. Members of the two main factions of the criminal group are now assimilating the defection of Guzmán López and his unprecedented alleged act of treason against a top cartel boss such as Zambada, a venerated godfather who had seen El Chapo’s children grow up in the hardscrabble mountains and valleys of the Sierra Madre.
Hours after the July 25 arrest of the two drug bosses, the Mexican government deployed hundreds of special forces soldiers to Culiacán. For now, there are enough soldiers to keep the peace in the city, said one Mexican official familiar with the deployment. But the two sides are now enlisting gunmen and acquiring weapons, said one cartel member.
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