López Obrador alleges U.S. role in Zambada transfer

Former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador accused the U.S. Justice Department and other U.S. agencies of making a clandestine arrangement with the sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán to take Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada to the United States in 2024. According to El Diario de Chihuahua, López Obrador made the allegation in his book Pueblo and said Mexican authorities were not involved in the operation.

López Obrador wrote that Joaquín Guzmán López had been expected to surrender on July 25, 2024, and that U.S. authorities were later informed Zambada might also be aboard the private aircraft. The plane landed at 4:24 p.m. in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, near El Paso, Texas, carrying both men, according to the account attributed to a written report by then-U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar. López Obrador also said Mexican officials later sought information from the FBI, including the pilot’s identity, but that the agency did not provide it.

El Diario de Chihuahua reported that López Obrador linked the operation to the criminal conflict that followed in Sinaloa. In his book, he said the confrontation produced about 1,100 killings from August 2024 through roughly one year later, and that the state’s average daily homicide count rose from 1.3 before the operation to 4.3 afterward. The source presents those figures and allegations as claims made by López Obrador in the book.