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Zambada and the former drug lord’s son, also named Joaquin Guzman, turned themselves in, according to a former U.S. official with knowledge of the detentions.
The two men are among the U.S. government’s most-wanted drug traffickers, and the State Department had offered $15 million for information leading to Zambada’s capture.
The news of Zambada’s arrest was first reported by the Reuters news agency.
Zambada and the senior Guzman were considered co-founders of the Sinaloa cartel. The elder Guzman was arrested in 2016 and convicted of multiple drug charges in the United States. He is serving a life sentence in a Colorado maximum-security prison.
Unlike “El Chapo,” known for his girlfriends and flashy lifestyle, Zambada had kept a low profile. He is believed to be in his 70s.
The Justice Department confirmed it had “taken into custody” both Zambada and the younger Guzman on Thursday in El Paso.
The department said the men “are facing multiple charges in the United States for leading the Cartel’s criminal operations, including its deadly fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks.”
It did not provide details of how the two were detained. But U.S. authorities have aggressively targeted the Sinaloa cartel because of its critical role in the production of fentanyl, responsible for tens of thousands of American deaths over the past few years.
El Chapo’s son had been under pressure from his family to turn himself in to U.S. authorities, according to a former U.S. official with knowledge of the joint investigation by the DEA and Homeland Security Investigations agents. He spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the operation.
Miroff reported from Washington. Lorena Rios in Monterrey, Mexico, contributed to this report.
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