Ismael Zambada Garcia, alias “El Mayo,” was the leader of a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. Along with Joaquín Guzmán Loera, alias “El Chapo,” El Mayo is one of the most storied drug traffickers in Mexican history.
Before being arrested by US authorities in July 2024, he was known primarily for maintaining a low profile and a focus on business over violence. In addition, he was one of the few old-guard bosses who had managed to evade justice throughout his four-decade criminal career.
History
Originally a farmer from the western state of Sinaloa, El Mayo started working with the Juarez Cartel in the 1980s and 1990s. After the death of the head of the Juarez Cartel, Amado Carrillo Fuentes, alias “El Señor de los Cielos,” El Mayo created his own organization. With the slow demise of the Tijuana Cartel, El Mayo has sought to expand his routes through the northwestern states of Sonora and Baja California. He also controled much of the production and shipment of heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl from Mexico into the United States.
In the decade prior to his capture, El Mayo suffered the loss of several key members of his inner circle. Authorities arrested his brother, two sons, and a nephew. His sons Ismael Zambada Imperial, alias “El Mayito Gordo,” and Vicente Zambada Niebla, alias “El Vincentillo,” as well as his brother Jesús “El Rey” Zambada, were captured and extradited to the United States between 2010 and 2019. Another of his sons, Serafín Zambada Ortíz, was arrested in Arizona in 2013 and released in 2018. All of them came to collaborate in various measures with the US justice system, which guaranteed them reduced sentences and early releases. In fact, El Rey and Vicentillo served as witnesses in El Chapo’s trial in New York in 2019.
In February 2017, El Mayo survived an attack allegedly carried out by Dámaso “Licenciado” López Núñez, another Sinaloa Cartel leader. The ambush also targeted two of El Chapo’s sons, suggesting an internal struggle for power following the drug boss’s capture and extradition to the United States earlier that year.
However, Licenciado was arrested soon after in Mexico City in May 2017. Then Licenciado’s son, Damáso López Serrano, alias “Mini Lic,” turned himself in to US authorities in July. This left El Mayo at the top of the Sinaloa Cartel, alongside El Chapo’s sons, known as the “Chapitos.” Each faction has had its own collaborators and armed factions, which work together most of the time but have occasionally clashed violently.
In the afternoon of July 25, 2024, El Mayo traveled in a private plane to the US border city of El Paso, Texas, reportedly accompanied by El Chapo’s son Joaquín Guzmán López. Both were arrested by US authorities in an apparently negotiated surrender.
Criminal Activities
Networks associated with El Mayo control much of the heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine, and fentanyl production in Mexico, and are also involved in cocaine trafficking from South America.
El Mayo and his associates have also managed to set up various money laundering schemes that extend throughout the country, according to investigations by the US Treasury Department. These have involved several companies, some of which have allegedly received government contracts.
Geography
El Mayo is originally from Sinaloa, and allegedly operated for decades from the mountainous area known as the Golden Triangle linking the states of Sinaloa, Durango, and Chihuahua. His family and associates have been deeply rooted in the communities of this region for years and have allegedly become providers of some basic services.
El Mayo’s associated armed factions, such as the Rusos and Anthrax, operate from the states of Sonora and Baja California, as well as Sinaloa, to guarantee access to border crossings.
Drug trafficking networks associated with El Mayo send emissaries to Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela to guarantee the flow of cocaine. They also have suppliers of precursor chemicals in Asia, which facilitate the production of synthetic drugs.
Finally, the clients of the drug trafficking networks associated with El Mayo are spread across every continent.
Allies and Enemies
El Mayo made and broke many alliances with other drug trafficking organizations. His partnership with the Chapitos has been cited as a major reason why the Sinaloa Cartel is the strongest in the hemisphere.
El Mayo also used his connections in the Mexican government to push his influence steadily north toward the US border and south toward the border with Guatemala, leaving a trail of imprisoned and dead colleagues in his wake.
Prospects
El Mayo proved himself remarkably adept at evading arrest. His deep connections in government and the local population in Sinaloa helped him spend over 40 years in the drug trafficking business without ever seeing the inside of a jail cell.
However, that came to an end in July 2024, with his arrest in El Paso, Texas. He faces charges in several US federal courts for trafficking large amounts of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl.
Before his arrest, the US government had offered a $15 million reward for information leading to El Mayo. Mexican authorities have not clarified if he also faces criminal charges in Mexico.
It is presumed that his son Ismael Zambada Sicairos, alias “El Mayito Flaco,” who has not been arrested, could be his heir.