Mayito Flaco linked to Sinaloa Baja California and Quintana Roo
Original reporting: El País México
What happened
El País México reported that Mexican and U.S. authorities place Ismael Zambada Sicairos, known as Mayito Flaco, in connection with Sinaloa, Baja California and Quintana Roo. The report cited a 2014 California indictment, military intelligence and an updated DEA wanted profile.
Reporting and context
Ismael Zambada Sicairos, known as Mayito Flaco, has been identified by Mexican and U.S. authorities in connection with locations in Sinaloa, Baja California and Quintana Roo, El País México reported. The article described him as the leader of Los Mayos, a faction that has fought Los Chapitos, its former allies, in a conflict that began in Culiacán in 2024 and later spread across Sinaloa. Those descriptions and allegations remain attributed to the source and the authorities it cites.
According to El País México, California prosecutors alleged in a 2014 indictment that Zambada Sicairos, his father Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and his brother Ismael “Mayito Gordo” Zambada had trafficked cocaine and methamphetamine to the United States since at least May 2005. The article also cited Mexican military intelligence placing him in Culiacán in 2017, without assigning him a rank in the structure it described.
El País México reported that a 2020 military report placed Mayito Flaco at the head of a group identified as the “Cartel del Pacífico” in Quintana Roo, while the Treasury Department later documented alleged alliances in Baja California beginning apparently in 2023. The DEA has since published an updated wanted profile, and the article said his last known location was Mexico City.