After the arrests of suspected Sinaloa Cartel leaders Joaquin Guzman Lopez and Ismael Zambada Garcia (El Mayo), the Justice Department released the following statement from Attorney General Merrick B. Garland:
One of the most potent and ruthless drug trafficking groups in the world, the Sinaloa Cartel, is said to have two more leaders, both of whom the Justice Department has detained. Co-founder of the Cartel Ismael Zambada Garcia, often known as “El Mayo,” and his son Joaquin Guzman Lopez were taken into custody in El Paso, Texas, today.
As the heads of the Cartel’s illicit activities, including its lethal fentanyl production and trafficking networks, both men are being prosecuted in many US courts.
The Justice Department of the United States is holding El Mayo and Guzman Lopez responsible, adding them to an increasing list of leaders and associates of the Sinaloa Cartel. Joaquin Guzman Loera, also known as “El Chapo,” is the other cofounder of the Cartel. Ovidio Guzman Lopez, a son of El Chapo and a suspected leader of the group, is also included. Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, also known as “El Nini,” is the Cartel’s purported head sicario.
Our nation has never faced a more deadly drug danger than fentanyl, and the Justice Department won’t stop until every cartel boss, member, and associate liable for poisoning our neighbourhoods is brought to justice.