Deal with the USA? Drug lord's son allegedly lured his accomplices into a trap

A son of the imprisoned drug lord "El Chapo" is said to have kidnapped the founder of the Sinaloa cartel to the USA and handed him over to the authorities. This is how the founder himself describes it. El Chapo's sons deny this.

The Sinaloa cartel proves once again that it can carry out actions that no film director could dream up more spectacularly. The latest example is provided by Joaquín Guzmán López, son of "El Chapo" Guzman, who is in a high-security prison in the USA. He is said to have kidnapped the founder of the Sinaloa cartel and extradited him to the USA.

Guzmán López works for the Sinaloa cartel, which his father ran with a brutal hand until his arrest. Together with his brothers, he has expanded his power in this cartel since his father was taken out of circulation, writes the Tages-Anzeiger. One of these "chapitos", Ovidio Guzmán López, has now also ended up in US custody. He too is said to play a role in the kidnapping of their cartel comrade.

Not only the Guzmán family has a say in the Sinaloa cartel, but also the Zambada family. Its head, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, once founded the drug empire. The 76-year-old had close ties to the "El Chapo" sons.

Luring the confidant into an ambush

As the central figure of the cartel - and much more publicity-shy than "El Chapo" - "El Mayo" is also of interest to the US judiciary.

Joaquín Guzmán López allegedly took advantage of this: he lured Zambada into an ambush, flew with him to the USA and was arrested there together with the Sinaloa founder.

The media have been reporting on the kidnapping since the end of July. Recently, Zambada himself told the public through a lawyer how the operation took place. He was asked by Guzmán López to go to a multi-purpose hall or ranch - reports from various media differ slightly - near the city of Culiacán to help settle a dispute. There, his men had overpowered him and forced him to board an airplane. In the USA, they were received by US law enforcement officers.

Deal with the US justice system?

The kidnapping is said to have been preceded by a deal between Ovidio Guzmán López, who has been in custody since 2023, the US justice system and his brother Joaquín Guzmán López.

Why is a leading cartel member, whose brother and father are already in US custody, handing himself in? Apparently he has made a deal with the US justice system: He starts a prison sentence, but is allowed to keep the money he earned in the drug business.

The calculation: after his release, he will be a free and wealthy man. The price for this was his betrayal of cartel founder Zambada. Ovidio Guzmán López, who is already in custody, is also said to be involved in the swap deal. The role of "El Chapo" is even less clear.

Not only Zambada's followers see his kidnapping as a betrayal, but also the Mexican justice system. They are now investigating Joaquín Guzmán López for treason.

Ovidio and Joaquín Guzmán López deny through their lawyers that they have made a deal with the US justice system.

Further escalation of the drug war threatens

Ismael Zambada has called on the population of the Mexican state of Sinaloa to show restraint and not react with violence, as reported by CNN. This would not solve any conflicts. A remarkable statement from one of the bosses of a cartel that is blamed for hundreds of thousands of deaths. There will be war, the "Wall Street Journal" quotes a follower of Zambada.

Shootouts between supporters of Zambada and the "Chapitos" are said to have already taken place. It is to be feared that the civilian population will once again be the main victims of the drug war in Mexico.