Although many cases have been built on intelligence gathered by various U.S. agencies, many others have been based on a common element within the world of organized crime: betrayal.
The history of drug trafficking in Mexico has repeatedly shown that the only ways out of that world are prison or death. While many members and leaders of criminal organizations have met their end through gunfire and violence or faced sentences spanning hundreds of years, a third option exists on the other side of the border: becoming an informant.
As this is a binational issue, the U.S. government has spent decades breaking major Mexican drug lords by threatening to keep them behind bars for the rest of their lives in highly restrictive facilities—as seen in the case of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
To avoid such a grim fate, those facing legal proceedings in the United States often turn to a tried-and-true tactic: the plea bargain. The formula is as simple as it is controversial: the accused submits to the U.S. justice system, admits to one or more of the charges filed against them, and—in some instances—agrees to provide substantial cooperation to U.S. authorities.
It is at this point that the information they provide to U.S. prosecutors becomes a form of currency, unlocking benefits such as better prison conditions, protection for their families, and even reduced sentences.
Adopting this strategy has allowed U.S. authorities to gain access to key intelligence on criminal organizations—enabling them to build new cases against other leaders or members—while offering the accused a potential ticket out.
The Sinaloa Cartel Informants
On March 18, 2009, Vicente Zambada Niebla became the first son of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada to be arrested. “El Vicentillo,” as he is better known, was taken into custody in the Lomas del Pedregal neighborhood of the Mexican capital alongside five other individuals found in possession of firearms; by then, he was already formally charged in U.S. courts for his participation in the criminal organization led by his father: the Sinaloa Cartel.
A year after his arrest, El Vicentillo was extradited to the United States, where a grueling legal process began—one that could result in a lengthy prison sentence if he were found guilty. With his options running out and a trial deemed unviable, the man also known as the “Prince of Narco” turned informant.
In April 2013, the son of Mayo Zambada pleaded guilty before Judge Rubén Castillo as part of an agreement that entailed full and truthful cooperation with U.S. prosecutors. And that is precisely what happened. El Vicentillo provided information regarding El Mayo Zambada’s associates and subordinates—including Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, against whom Vicente Zambada Niebla testified during the trial the Sinaloa Cartel co-founder faced at the Brooklyn court in New York.
The case of Reynaldo Zambada García—El Vicentillo’s uncle and El Mayo Zambada’s brother—followed a similar path. After being arrested in Mexico City in 2008, the man known as “Rey” spent four years incarcerated at the El Altiplano prison until the Mexican government granted his extradition to the United States, where he had been formally indicted for involvement in cocaine trafficking activities. His defense strategy led him to surrender to U.S. authorities, admit to the role he played for the Sinaloa Cartel, and cooperate with prosecutors—a move that made him a star witness in two of the most high-profile organized crime trials: those of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and former Secretary of Public Security Genaro García Luna.
Turning informant against the Sinaloa Cartel allowed both “El Rey” Zambada and “El Vicentillo” to regain their freedom. In the case of “El Mayo’s” son, his name disappeared from Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) records in 2021, while Reynaldo Zambada García was released from prison in 2020.
Another associate of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada who surrendered to U.S. authorities following his extradition was Felipe Cabrera Sarabia, alias “El Inge.” In 2023, the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel splinter group known as “Los Cabrera Sarabia” pleaded guilty to one of the heroin trafficking charges brought against him.
The plea agreement “El Inge” reached with prosecutors included a cooperation clause; according to a report obtained by MILENIO, he participated in at least four sessions where he provided information regarding his operations alongside “El Mayo” Zambada. Felipe Cabrera Sarabia was released from prison on September 4, 2026.
Brothers Pedro and Margarito Flores grew up in the world of drug trafficking. Natives of Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, they established themselves over the course of a decade as the Sinaloa Cartel’s primary cocaine distribution liaisons in the city. They collaborated directly with leaders such as Ismael Zambada García, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, and Arturo Beltrán Leyva, alias “El Barbas.”
However, in 2008—while still within the cartel—they became DEA informants. By November of that year, having gathered hours of conversations and vital information to build several criminal cases, they formally surrendered to U.S. authorities. Their testimony has enabled the filing of formal charges in over 19 cases against more than 50 individuals, including “El Mayo,” “El Chapo,” and “El Barbas.” Both men are currently free but remain subject to a cooperation agreement should they be called to testify—as happened with Pedro, who was among the witnesses whose testimony helped convict “El Chapo” Guzmán during his high-profile 2019 trial.
CJNG Informants
Óscar Orlando Nava Valencia has established himself as a key witness for the U.S. government. He has cooperated against drug traffickers from both the Jalisco and Sinaloa cartels. For several years, he led the Milenio Cartel—a criminal organization primarily dedicated to smuggling cocaine into the United States—until his arrest in Guadalajara in 2009. A couple of years later, he was extradited to the United States, where he almost immediately became a protected witness.
In addition to providing information for various cases, he testified during the drug trafficking trial of Genaro García Luna—Mexico’s Secretary of Public Security during the Felipe Calderón administration—as well as at the sentencing hearing of Gerardo González Valencia (alias “Lalo”), a leader of Los Cuinis (the financial arm of the Jalisco cartel), and at the trial of Rubén Oseguera González (alias “El Menchito”), son of CJNG founder Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes (“El Mencho”).
His testimony led to his release from prison in December 2023 under the auspices of a U.S. government witness protection program.
Elpidio Mojarro Ramírez—formerly the accountant and right-hand man to “El Lobo” Valencia within the Milenio Cartel—followed a similar path. By 2011, when El Lobo and his brother Juan Carlos (alias “El Tigre”) were arrested, El Pilo was leading the “La Resistencia” cell; the group unsuccessfully attempted to halt the rise of “El Mencho” and his faction, known as “Los Torcidos,” within the Mexican underworld.
Shortly thereafter, El Pilo became an informant for U.S. anti-drug authorities while continuing to operate as an independent cocaine trafficker. In 2018, realizing his business was not thriving, he surrendered to U.S. authorities and became a cooperating witness. According to information obtained by journalist Angel Hernández for *Milenio*, Elpidio Mojarro Ramírez testified in the trial of “El Menchito” and at the sentencing hearing of “Lalo” (of Los Cuinis); he also provided information that led to a life sentence in the United States for Raúl Flores Hernández, an independent cocaine trafficker from Guadalajara.
He was released and placed under witness protection in September 2023, following a five-year prison sentence for drug trafficking—time he had already served by that point.
The New Snitches
Two of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera’s sons are currently cooperating witnesses for Washington. Biological brothers Ovidio and Joaquín Guzmán López secured separate plea and cooperation agreements after the former was arrested in Mexico in early 2023 and subsequently extradited to the United States in September of that same year. The latter surrendered to U.S. authorities in July 2025; in doing so, he abducted and handed over “El Mayo” Zambada in an effort to gain credit for himself and his brother.
Both faced charges of drug trafficking and organized crime for leading “Los Chapitos,” the Sinaloa Cartel faction inherited from their father, El Chapo.
Neither brother has testified at a trial or hearing in the United States; however, they are expected to be sentenced soon and receive a reduced term—avoiding what would otherwise be a mandatory life sentence.
While the Guzmán López brothers cooperate, their half-brothers—Iván Archivaldo and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar—remain in Mexico as fugitives from justice, leading their own division within the Sinaloa Cartel.
Meanwhile, Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas—alias “El Nini,” who led the Los Chapitos hit squad—is also working on a plea agreement. Although his case is under seal in the Brooklyn federal court in New York, sources close to the matter confirmed to journalist Angel Hernández (reporting for MILENIO) that he is actively cooperating with U.S. law enforcement agencies.
Pérez Salas commanded the armed wing known as “Los Ninis,” which was responsible for protecting the four Los Chapitos leaders, battling rival groups, and coordinating drug shipments to the United States. Among his tasks was, for example, securing the release of Ovidio Guzmán after he was arrested in October 2019 in Culiacán, Sinaloa.
“El Nini” was arrested in Sinaloa in November 2023 and extradited to the United States in May 2024. Facing charges for various crimes—including the murder of a DEA informant—his case has been handled with secrecy by the Department of Justice and his attorney, Rubén Oliva; to date, his whereabouts and legal status remain unknown.
Over the years, the extradition or handover of key figures driving violence to the United States has been part of the bilateral cooperation aimed at weakening criminal organizations that impact both sides of the border. However, the workings of the U.S. justice system have also sparked public outrage, given that—while the U.S. negotiates releases and protection in exchange for new information—impunity is all that remains in Mexico.
Source: Milenio
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