What is the U.S. government hiding about El Mayo Zambada’s detention?

The detention of Ismael Zambada, a.k.a. El Mayo, in El Paso, Texas, soon became a mess of disinformation and lack of transparency from the Mexican and the U.S. authorities.

However, the Mexican government, through Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador himself, has increased the pressure on the Biden Administration to explain how the actual operation was possible to detain El Mayo, who was one of the most wanted Mexican cartel leaders in the last 30 years.

The latest version of the operation came from the U.S. Ambassador in Mexico, Ken Salazar, who affirmed that El Mayo was taken to the U.S. “against his will” because Joaquin Guzman Lopez kidnapped him. But in a press conference on August 7 in Mexico, Salazar also said that the situation was a “cartels operation”, and Salazar added: “One [El Mayo] surrendered himself to the other [Joaquin Guzman Lopez]”. So, there is a contradiction. Was El Mayo kidnapped, or did he surrender himself?

A day after Salazar’s press conference, El Mayo sent to media a press release explaining that Joaquin Guzman Lopez kidnaped him during a meeting arranged in Sinaloa with the current governor Ruben Rocha, the former congressman Hector Melesio Cuen, and Ivan Guzman Salazar, another Joaquin El Chapo Guzman’s son.

El Mayo said that Joaquin Guzman Lopez called him to follow him, and then the kidnapping happened, where Melesio Cuen was killed. El Mayo was taken to the U.S. and was arraigned at the Western District Court of Texas in El Paso. However, El Mayo will be extradited to the Eastern District Court of New York.

Besides the contradictions from Ambassador Salazar, what else has the U.S. government said about El Mayo’s detention? Nothing.

The writer of this article contacted various offices of the Biden Administration, including the National Security Council of the White House, the Department of Justice, the DEA, and the Department of State. None of them has formally explained how El Mayo’s detention was concrete.

“The Justice Department declines to comment,” said a speaker from the International Law Enforcement on July 29.

After covering many trials, including El Chapo Guzman’s and Genaro Garcia Luna’s, I know that there is information that is not easy to release during judicial processes. But the Department of Justice has usually been transparent about the importance of any cartel leader’s detention. The authorities even make clear that they cannot sometimes reveal more information to avoid problems during the judicial process.

Despite that reasoning, in El Mayo’s case, the lack of transparency has yet to go beyond, and some contradictory information leaked to the press increases the suspicion that the due process in El Mayo’s judicial case can be compromised.

The U.S. government needs to clarify step-by-step how El Mayo Zambada’s detention was, if an agreement with Joaquin Guzman Lopez included El Mayo’s detention, and if not, how are going to protect the case in courts. Also, the U.S. needs to answer the Mexican government’s questions about the operation in Mexico and the U.S.

The answers will clarify many questions and help to understand and confirm whether Mexico and the U.S. are actually working together against organized crime.