“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat
The drug trafficker revealed details of how he approached the world of organized crime and the obstacles he faced when it was learned that he was the brother of El Mayo Zambada.
El Rey Zambada studied accounting at UNAM before becoming a drug trafficker
His name is perhaps best known in the underworld for being the brother of Ismael El Mayo Zambada, leader of the Sinaloa cartel, who is currently a fugitive from justice and for whom the US government has offered a $15 million reward for information leading to the capture of the kingpin accused of being behind the drug trafficking to the United States.
Jesús Reynaldo Zambada, El Rey or El Patrón, his brother, reappeared after being arrested in Mexico City on October 20, 2008 and after testifying in the trial against drug trafficker Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán, currently sentenced to life imprisonment in Mexico.
Last November 5, the drug lord revealed in an interview he had with youtuber Pepe Garza, that he studied accounting at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) until he got to the path that put him in the ranks of the narco.
El Rey Zambada spoke about the relationship he had with his brother, whom he considers like a father, but despite his admiration for him, he assured that since 2007 he has not seen El Mayo Zambada, who is currently still one of the most wanted men.
“I am an intern. I finished my entire degree at UNAM. I even remember my account number. These are details that you never forget because you use them every day and they stay with you,” he said.
Even though El Mayo was a person who occupied an important role in the Sinaloa Cartel and had created a strong structure in the organization, he hoped that Jesus Reynaldo could continue studying so that he would not be involved in the drug business.
“What my brother wanted was for [me] to study. That is the reality, his illusion was that I would be on the right path, that I would not have problems like he had.”
The uncomfortable brother and “considerable power”.
By the time Jesus finished his degree, El Mayo was already a well-known person, so wherever he worked – without mentioning what place it was – they would ask him if he was related to him, which affected him professionally.
Throughout his career, El Rey Zambada was affected in his ability to get a job because of his relationship with his brother, which is why he was rejected even by the Treasury Department.
“I finished my university, when he was already a public figure. He was mentioned as a very important person. I was working in a company and one day the owner called me and asked me what became of him. I told him he was my brother. Then he told me that the partners didn’t agree that I should continue working in the company”.
“I started looking for work elsewhere. Even at the Treasury. Well, it started to affect me. Everywhere they asked me the same question, what was my brother to me. Well, he is my brother,” he said.
Jesus Zambada, unable to find work, finally ended up approaching his brother, who pulled him into the business to support him and so he decided to join him in his activities.
“I waited until my ninth semester. I became an intern, that is, I graduated, I went to my graduation party and everything. And the next day I decided to go talk to my brother, what’s going on. He already had legal business. He tried to get me to help him in the legal business. When I arrived, he had a fairly high economic level, he had an organization with considerable power.
“People close to him started to comment to me, be careful, there are these kinds of problems, you have to watch out for so-and-so, things are not good here. So I said, well, why am I going to serve my brother behind a desk; it’s like I can serve my brother better by being with him than being here […] So I said to my brother, I want to go with you; no, you’re in bad shape. Well, it doesn’t matter if this is wrong, this is what I like and I want to enjoy this feeling […] And I started to walk with him”.
He even shared some moments from his past and said that his father died almost a year after he was born, so El Mayo’s presence in his life was very important, and he even sent him a greeting and a hug.
“I take this opportunity to send him a greeting, if he sees this interview, and tell him that I love him very much. Even though I haven’t seen him in so many years, I still have him in my heart and in my mind always”.
Jesús said that people in his family, specifically his brother, had been involved in organized crime at a very young age, so he realized what the world was like very early on.
“Since I was a child I began to understand what drug trafficking was because my brother got involved in this activity at a very young age. I was eight, nine years old, and I was already beginning to realize that in my state, specifically in the capital, Culiacán, there is this type of activity that people begin to see as normal.”
Jesús Reynaldo Zambada, El Rey or El Patrón, pointed out that the opulence shown by the capos’ lifestyle is very attractive to almost anyone, especially a young person.
“You start to like seeing that new cars come in, that they can spend money, that they can get what they want, that they can even bring a gun if they like […] I was always in school and I tried not to think about something happening to my brother. I was trying to get those thoughts out of my mind, there are people that they affect a lot.”