Joaquín Guzmán López apparently grew tired of living with a target on his back as a member of Los Chapitos, the clan of brothers who took control of half of the Sinaloa Cartel drug cartel empire after his father Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán was arrested and later extradited to the United States.
On Thursday, El Chapo found a one-way ticket out of his extravagant, yet exciting, lifestyle when he boarded a small plane with fugitive cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and arranged for his arrest in El Paso, Texas, DailyMail.com has learned.
DailyMail.com confirmed through a former Justice Minister that El Mayo joined Guzmán López on a flight to the Mexico City area to look at possible properties he was going to buy.
However, the aircraft changed its flight path and headed north into U.S. airspace before landing in El Paso, where agents were waiting.
Zambada appeared in federal court in El Paso on Friday morning and pleaded not guilty to a number of drug trafficking charges, court records show.
Joaquin Guzman Lopez, one of the sons of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, turned himself in to U.S. authorities on Thursday and in the process set up Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada by flying him to El Paso, Texas, after El Mayo thought he was flying to the Mexico City area to look for property.
Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada founded the Sinaloa Cartel with Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. He had never been arrested by Mexican authorities. He was arrested in El Paso, Texas, on Thursday and faces a litany of charges for crimes related to drug trafficking and organized crime in the United States.
The couple was arrested in El Paso, Texas, after getting off a private plane that was supposed to take El Mayo to the Mexico City area to view properties.
Joaquín Guzmán López, along with his brother Ovidio Guzmán López, was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York in 2018 for allegedly conspiring to distribute cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine in the United States.
Retired DEA agent and chief of operations Ray Donovan, who helped take down El Chapo, told DailyMail.com on Friday that it was a smart decision for Joaquin Guzman Lopez to turn himself in.
“It means it was a very smart decision on his part. Here he is being accused by the United States government. There’s a lot of violence in Mexico. Potentially, you know, a change of administration with (President-elect Claudia) Sheinbaum in Mexico. Potentially, a change of administration in the United States,” Donovan said. “(There’s) a lot of rhetoric going on,” he added. “It’s not a bad decision if you’re him.”
“You want a quiet life and you don’t want to be a part of this anymore? So, you know, it’s a very smart decision on your part.”
Donovan suspects that fear of being assassinated at any moment led Joaquín Guzmán López to betray Zambada, after years of internal conflicts.
“It’s too much pressure, too much burden, and they fear death all the time,” he said. “They’re afraid of being killed. Listen, even the most important people are afraid of being killed, no matter how powerful they are.”
Joaquin Guzman Lopez is escorted by US federal agents after his surrender
Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán was captured in Mexico in 2016 and extradited in 2017 (see here). He was convicted of multiple drug trafficking charges by a New York federal court in 2019 and is serving a life sentence at ADX Florence, a maximum security prison in Colorado.
Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada founded the Sinaloa Cartel with Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán and had never been arrested
Joaquin’s brother, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, was also arrested in Mexico in September 2023 and extradited to the United States to face his own long list of charges.
Donovan was behind an operation to capture El Mayo in 2014, following El Chapo’s Hollywood-style prison escape, but El Mayo managed to outwit them.
“We knew what was going on with him. We knew where he was and Mayo was smart,” Donovan recalled. “He had information that there was an operation and he fled to the mountains. Although El Chapo also had information, he stayed in Culiacan. So I always use that as an indicator of how smart Mayo was. Mayo was shrewd and he didn’t hang around. He wasn’t daring. The older he got, the more professional he became.”
Joaquin Guzman Lopez’s half-brothers, Ivan Guzman Salazar and Jesus Guzman Salazar, are unlikely to follow in his footsteps and voluntarily surrender to U.S. authorities.
Of the four brothers, Donovan described Joaquín Guzmán López as the “least guilty” because he only admired his brothers and became involved in the family business.
—Hey, Joaquin, was he a drug dealer? Yes, Donovan said. But was he really the main guy? No, he was never the main guy. He was more of a follower than a leader. Ovidio was the big fentanyl producer. Ivan ran the cartel. (Jesus) had the contacts in Colombia.
‘He (Joaquin Guzman Lopez) had to weigh the pros and cons and I think he made a smart decision. He wants a different life. This is life.’
Ivan Guzman Salazar (pictured) is one of El Chapo’s sons and now leads half of the Sinaloa Cartel. The DEA is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction.
The DEA is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Jesus Guzman Salazar
Donovan explained that the fact that Joaquin Guzman Lopez turned himself in means that he intended to get away from the cartel. Ovidio Guzman Lopez was arrested in Mexico in September 2023 and faces drug trafficking and money laundering charges in Chicago.
“It’s a sign of good faith toward the government, right?” he said. “It’s not a national surrender, it’s an international surrender, right? So good faith toward the U.S. is one thing. The second is that Mayo Zambada is arrested. That’s a great benefit. For me, it’s a well-made decision.”
Donovan sees Ivan Guzman Salazar joining forces with Zambada’s son, Ismael ‘El Mayito Flaco’ Zambada Sicairos, who is seen as someone who is not thirsty for blood.
“He’s not the kind of person who dares to fight for control,” Donovan said. “That’s why I think Ivan Guzman is going to consolidate his power over the cartel.”
