FGR arrests alleged witness in El Mayo case

Reporting and context

Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office arrested Fausto Corrales Rodríguez in Mexico City, La Jornada reports, describing him as a key witness in the case involving the alleged kidnapping of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and the killing of former Sinaloa Autonomous University rector Héctor Melesio Cuén Ojeda. Government sources cited by the newspaper say Corrales was Cuén’s driver and took him to the Huertos del Pedregal property in Culiacán on July 25, 2024. Investigators have identified that location as the place where Cuén was killed and where Zambada was allegedly abducted and later taken to the United States.

The FGR alleges that Corrales may have covered up Cuén’s homicide and made false statements to investigative authorities. According to La Jornada, Corrales told Sinaloa authorities that he took Cuén to a hospital after armed men shot him at a gas station during an attempted robbery. Federal forensic work later treated that account as a staged incident, the report says. The FGR alleges that Corrales contradicted himself and withheld truthful information about the events surrounding the meeting.

The agency said Corrales accompanied Cuén to a meeting where Zambada was reportedly expected to meet former Sinaloa governor Rubén Rocha Moya and Joaquín Guzmán López to resolve a political dispute. La Jornada says the arrest was made under a warrant issued by a federal control judge. The allegations will be tested in the criminal process, and the available report does not establish Corrales’ guilt or provide a final ruling.