Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez told reporters Friday that a small plane carrying Zambada, 76, and Guzmán, about 37, took off from the Hermosillo airport in northern Sonora state shortly before 8 a.m. Thursday and landed around 10 a.m. in El Paso, where the men were quickly arrested.
The U.S. Embassy did not inform Mexican authorities of the operation until 3:30 p.m. local time, Rodríguez said. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was not informed until 4:14 p.m.
“We are waiting for an official communication to know if what happened yesterday was a capture or a surrender,” Rodríguez said at López Obrador’s daily press conference. “That is part of what the U.S. government has to tell us.”
Zambada, a co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, was flown aboard a private plane to the United States with Guzmán, the son of imprisoned cartel co-founder Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, according to a Department of Homeland Security official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity about the sensitive operation.
Zambada and Guzmán Sr., who is serving life in prison and 30 years in the maximum-security federal prison in Florence, Colorado, ran one of the world’s most prolific drug cartels, exporting tons of heroin, cocaine, fentanyl and other drugs. The Biden administration has targeted the cartel as it tries to combat the deadliest drug epidemic in history.
On Friday, Rodriguez was asked by reporters why Mexico was not informed in advance of such a crucial operation. Zambada also has arrest warrants in Mexico.
Rodriguez insisted that cooperation with Washington against drug trafficking is strong.
“We will continue to cooperate with the U.S. government, as we have done until this event,” she said.
Miroff reported from Washington. Lorena Rios in Monterrey, Mexico, contributed to this report.
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