Joaquín Guzmán Loera (“El Chapo”) and Ismael Zambada García (“El Mayo”) dreamed of retiring together from the drug trafficking business and making way for the new generations of the Sinaloa Cartel.
“They were already tired and old,” reveals Lucero Sánchez López—known as *La Chapodiputada* (The Chapo-Congresswoman)—who for a few years gained insight into the inner workings of the criminal group currently embroiled in a war between its two main factions: *La Chapiza* and *La Mayiza*.
Now based in the United States—where she serves as a cooperating witness after surrendering to U.S. authorities—the Sinaloa native has returned to the public eye to analyze the situation in her home state and share previously unknown anecdotes about her romantic relationship with El Chapo. Among these details is the revelation that the kingpin’s dream had been to join *Banda El Recodo*, the famous band founded by Don Cruz Lizárraga.
In an interview with *EL UNIVERSAL*, Sánchez López states that Joaquín Guzmán confided in her that they wanted to pass the baton of the Sinaloa Cartel to someone other than his children, as he did not want them involved in the world of drug trafficking and narcotics.
“They [El Chapo and El Mayo] used to talk about retiring—living their lives quietly and in a relaxed manner—because, well, obviously they were tired and old, as they put it. But they never spoke about who they would leave as successors. My understanding is that he [Guzmán Loera] didn’t want his children to get involved.” Since there was never any talk of successors—at least not to her knowledge—”Los Chapitos” had to take the reins of the Sinaloa Cartel following their father’s recapture in January 2016.
However, the Cosalá native never anticipated the rift between the Guzmáns and the Zambadas that stemmed from Joaquín Guzmán López—El Chapo’s son—orchestrating the extraction and transfer of “El Mayo” to the United States.
“Codes were lost; the codes that used to exist—not harming children, not harming innocent people—simply don’t exist anymore. Things are very different after Joaquín and El Mayo,” she notes.
Now dedicated to songwriting and selling sportswear, the former local legislator—who represented an alliance of the PAN, PRD, and PAS parties—sees chaos within the Sinaloa Cartel.
“We are already witnessing the end of the Sinaloa Cartel; ever since the key leaders who maintained control—Joaquín and Mr. Mayo—were turned over, the cartel just hasn’t been the same.”
She recounts that during her relationship with El Chapo, he revealed that, given his love for music, one of his dreams had been to join Banda El Recodo—a musical icon of Sinaloa and the…
She details that El Chapo enjoyed singing songs by Los Canelos and Los Alegres del Barranco—groups that perform *norteño* music and *narcocorridos*.
“His dream when he was younger wasn’t to be a drug trafficker; he used to say his dream was to be a singer—that he wanted to be part of Don Cruz Lizárraga’s Banda El Recodo. That had always been his dream. Obviously, a lack of education, resources, and opportunities led him down that other path.
“He really liked to sing. And I thought, ‘Well, maybe so,’ because he did sing a lot; he was very cheerful. He was always singing songs by Los Canelos and Los Alegres—he was constantly humming and singing.”
She revealed that after several attempts to leave the kingpin, there was one occasion—during an argument—when she tried to commit suicide using a .25-caliber pistol he had given her. However, during a struggle, the gun went off, wounding the drug trafficker in the ear. She states that the former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel had given her the gun for protection.
“He had given me that .25-caliber pistol for home security, since it was just us women there. He told me, ‘I’m going to give you a weapon.’ I’m not into guns; I had never owned one before.
“It didn’t really hurt him; it was just a graze that drew a little blood. Afterward, he just laughed about it, saying, ‘You almost killed me, my queen,’ and things like that. He used to joke about it.”
Lucero Sánchez states that one of the former Sinaloa Cartel leader’s pastimes was watching Netflix series and exercising on a treadmill every day. She recalls that Guzmán Loera liked to have oatmeal and coffee with homemade bread for breakfast.
“He would watch the news, and occasionally series—things like that, Netflix series. He had his routine, his hobby; every day he would get on the treadmill and eat healthily. That’s what I saw.”
Lucero Sánchez categorically denies that her campaign for a seat in the Sinaloa state legislature was financed by “El Chapo” or “El Mayo,” asserting instead that she ran a clean race in the 2013 local elections.
She even emphasizes that she asked El Chapo not to get involved in the electoral process.
In an interview with *El Gran Diario de México*, the woman dubbed the “Chapodiputada” (Chapo-lawmaker) reveals that she saw Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada in 2010 when he arrived in a small plane to visit his *compadre* (close associate/god-brother) El Chapo, bringing him Chinese food—another of his favorite meals.
“I saw him in 2010; that was the only time I saw Mr. Mayo. He arrived in a small plane with his pilot, and I greeted them. He stayed for about an hour, give or take—no longer than that. He went to visit Joaquín; I imagine he was visiting to see how he was doing and because they were *compadres*.
“I remember he brought him Chinese food and bread—those were the things he brought. Aside from that, I never saw him again; I would just hear him mention him: ‘Oh, I’m going to see my *compadre*.’” But I never saw him again.”
During the conversation, Sánchez López reflects that, given the circumstances that led El Chapo into drug trafficking, the life sentence “isn’t entirely fair,” though she acknowledges that there are hundreds of victims because of him.
She recalls seeing the kingpin looking “very tired” and “frail” during his trial.
“I often feel that the sentence he received—well, to me, it doesn’t seem entirely fair; I feel he didn’t deserve it. That’s just my opinion.
Of course, others might think differently and believe he actually did deserve it,” she commented.
More than a decade ago, Lucero Sánchez won a seat in the Sinaloa Congress. However, she was immediately accused of having ties to Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
In June 2016, the Chamber of Deputies stripped her of her parliamentary immunity after the then-Attorney General’s Office (PGR) identified her as the person who had visited El Chapo at the Altiplano prison using a false identity—visits that took place prior to his 2015 escape through a tunnel.
She was arrested in July 2017 upon entering the United States, where she testified against the drug trafficker. During a hearing in January 2019, she broke down in tears before the federal court in New York as she acknowledged her relationship with the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Source: El Universal
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