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Mexico Investigates Possible Sovereignty Breach in 2024 Zambada Capture
Mexico opened an inquiry Tuesday into whether U.S. agencies violated its sovereignty during the 2024 arrest of Sinaloa cartel leader Ismael Zambada. The probe follows conflicting accounts of how Zambada was brought to the United States and renewed diplomatic friction between the two countries.
Jul 7, 1:59 PM·1m read1 source
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Mexico announced Tuesday that it is investigating whether its sovereignty was violated by the United States in the 2024 capture of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada. CBS News reported the inquiry follows the FBI's public display of the plane used to transport the Sinaloa cartel co-founder to the United States. President Claudia Sheinbaum said at her daily press conference that participation by any U.S.
Agency would breach international treaties and the Mexican constitution. Zambada was arrested in the United States in July 2024 alongside Joaquin Guzman Lopez. Guzman Lopez pleaded guilty to U.S. narcotrafficking charges in December 2024 and admitted in his plea deal that he had kidnapped Zambada.
According to the plea agreement, Zambada was ambushed, loaded onto a plane, drugged, and flown across the border. The U.S. Embassy in Mexico stated in 2024 that no U.S. agency took part in the operation.
Mexican government secretary Rosa Icela Rodriguez said the accounts are contradictory and that someone lied. Sheinbaum added that the evidence indicates U.S. ambassador Ken Salazar lied. Zambada pleaded guilty in August to federal charges including drug trafficking, gun offenses, and money laundering.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Zambada and other Sinaloa leaders oversaw distribution of large quantities of heroin, cocaine, fentanyl, and other drugs into the United States. The factional war inside the Sinaloa cartel that followed Zambada's arrest has left thousands dead and missing.S.
Troops if Sheinbaum fails to act against the gangs. Sheinbaum's administration continues to investigate whether two CIA agents who died in April during an operation in Chihuahua violated Mexican national security laws by operating without federal authorization.
