Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the longtime leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, finally gave his version of the events surrounding his July 25, 2024 arrest. In a series of public statements from prison, Zambada implicates cartel figures in his kidnapping in Mexico, details physical abuse, and ties his arrest to the killing of a longtime political ally.
"Since I was flown to the United States from Mexico on July 25, 2024, there have been many inaccurate reports in the media in both countries. In this statement, I will share the truth of what happened that day."
According to Zambada, he was lured to a ranch on the outskirts of Culiacán under the pretext of mediating a political dispute involving Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya and Héctor Melesio Cuén Ojeda, a former rector of the Autonomous University of Sinaloa and founder of the Sinaloense Party.
"As I walked toward the meeting area... I saw Joaquín Guzmán López, whom I've known since he was a child, and he gestured for me to follow him. Trusting the nature of the meeting and the people involved, I followed without hesitation."
Zambada says he was then ambushed.
"They took me to another dark room, and as soon as I set foot in it, they ambushed me. A group of men assaulted me, threw me to the ground, and put a dark hood over my head. They tied me up and handcuffed me, then forced me into the back of a pickup truck," he wrote, pointing to lasting injuries in his back, knee, and wrists.
He was then forced to board a private plane, and after a 3-hour flight, arrived in El Paso, Texas, where he was taken by U.S. federal agents. Perhaps more explosive was Zambada's demand to reveal the full truth behind the killing of Cuén, the former rector of the Autonomous University of Sinaloa and a prominent political operator.
Authorities originally described Cuén's 2024 death as a robbery gone wrong. But forensic evidence later contradicted that version, with blood traces and witness testimony pointing to a ranch in Culiacán as the true crime scene.
That same ranch was where Zambada says he was betrayed and captured. By linking his ordeal to Cuén's killing, Zambada is reinforcing allegations that local officials, prosecutors, and police colluded in a cover-up to obscure what really happened that day.
"I am aware that the official version of the Sinaloa state authorities is that Héctor Cuen was shot on the night of July 25 at a gas station by two men on a motorcycle who wanted to steal his truck, but that is not what happened. He was murdered at the same time and in the same place where I was kidnapped," El Mayo stated.
His statement today appeared to be an attempt to reframe how history will remember his downfall.
"The story that I surrendered or cooperated voluntarily is completely and absolutely false. I was brought to this country under duress and against my will," Zambada added.
The cartel boss, long considered untouchable, is now awaiting sentencing in New York after pleading guilty to racketeering and drug trafficking charges earlier this summer.
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