A kidnapping, a capture and a life sentence: Inside the downfall of cartel boss 'El Mayo'

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Set us as preferred For decades, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was Mexico’s most elusive kingpin, perpetually slipping through the fingers of authorities who pursued him across his home state of Sinaloa.One former U.S.law enforcement official recalled that while other drug lords were escorted by convoys of heavily armed gunmen, Zambada kept a low profile and made daring getaways without firing a single bullet.“He walked right out from under me on two occasions with no security at all,” said the former official, who requested anonymity to discuss operations in Mexico.

“Once he was holding hands with a girl and once he traded hats with a field worker and walked right through us wearing a poncho and field hand’s sombrero.”Less of a household name than his longtime partner, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, Zambada preferred to rule from the shadows, a seemingly untouchable godfather who ordered deaths of rivals and lined the pockets of police chiefs, military generals and politicians at the highest levels of his country’s government.And then, in the span of just a few hours on July 25, 2024, his empire came crashing down.Betrayed by one of El Chapo’s sons, Zambada was lured into an ambush, kidnapped and forced onto a plane bound for a small airport outside of El Paso, where U.S.federal agents waited to receive them.

In the two years since, questions have lingered about the extent of U.S.involvement in the stunning capture.

Although officials have maintained publicly that El Chapo’s son acted on his own and surprised everyone by bringing along Zambada, sources have revealed to The Times new details about talks that preceded the downfall of the Sinaloa cartel co-founder.On Monday, Zambada was sentenced to life in prison by a federal judge.

Once a near-mythical figure, seen only in a handful of long-outdated photo...