Kidnapping of El Chapo’s cartel partner hangs over U.S. indictment of Mexican governor

The indictment has remarkable details as it reveals the network of corruption at the highest levels of the Mexican government.

At the center is Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha Moya, who is accused of allowing his state’s eponymous cartel to go unpunished after its leaders guaranteed his election by sending gunmen to intimidate rival candidates, steal ballots and threaten voters at the polls, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Rocha Moya, who claimed no wrongdoing while taking leave as governor this month to address the accusations, is alleged to be in cahoots with “Los Chapitos,” a cartel group led by four sons of the infamous Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

While prosecutors in the Southern District of New York presented damning evidence, equally remarkable was everything not mentioned in the indictment. One name in particular was conspicuous by its absence: Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, El Chapo’s longtime associate and known as the Sinaloa cartel’s most powerful godfather.

Beyond the ledger of monthly bribe payments to senior Sinaloan officials that prosecutors said were “received from Mexico” during the investigation, the indictment appears to be based on evidence that must have been obtained through extraordinary surveillance or from people who knew Los Chapitos closely.

Sensing the ire of U.S. authorities, many cartel leaders have turned on each other in recent years, and the latest case raises questions about whether more betrayals are to come. El Chapo’s two sons remain at large, but there are rumors they could make a deal to avoid the fate of being killed or captured.

The charges against Rocha Moya and nine other current and former Sinaloan officials have roiled Mexican politics and increased scrutiny of the loose ends left in the case of Zambada and the two Chapitos already in U.S. custody.

Some suspect that the chain of events that led to the latest charges began nearly two years ago, when a private jet arrived at a small New Mexico airport carrying three people.

One of them was Zambada, a septuagenarian ringleader with so many judges, generals and politicians in his pocket that he was able to avoid spending a single night in jail in a criminal career that stretched back to the 1970s. Others on board were El Chapo’s 39-year-old son, Joaquín Guzmán López, the pilot and Zambada’s godson.

According to Zambada’s account through a statement released by his lawyer, he was ambushed and kidnapped by Guzmán López, who lured him to a villa on the outskirts of Sinaloa’s capital, Culiacán; here he hoped to mediate a dispute between Rocha Moya and another Sinalo politician.

Rocha Moya claims its name was used as bait. The Governor has denied any knowledge of the plot and has an alibi that he went to Los Angeles that day. Zambada said only that he saw the other politician shot dead at the scene.

Zambada said Guzmán López forced him onto the plane and then handed him over to FBI and Department of Homeland Security agents waiting on the New Mexico runway.

Zambada pleaded guilty in August to charges that he founded the Sinaloa cartel and trafficked thousands of tons of drugs. Appearing in a federal courtroom in Brooklyn, Trump said his business was based on “bribing police, military commanders and politicians to allow us to operate freely.”

It was long thought that Guzmán López had kidnapped Zambada in hopes of currying favor with US authorities. That theory was confirmed in December when he reached a plea agreement in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

At the time of his surrender, Guzmán López was facing a series of US federal charges that could carry a life sentence. If he cooperates, he will serve a much shorter term — at least 10 years — in prison, according to a transcript of his plea hearing reviewed by The Times.

Joaquín Guzmán López, the 39-year-old son of the Sinaloa cartel leader known as “El Chapo,” was arrested in New Mexico on July 25, 2024, along with his godfather Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.

(Associated Press)

The plea agreement stated that US officials “did not request, encourage, sanction, approve or condone the kidnapping” of Zambada, referred to as “Individual A”. The agreement stated that Guzmán López acted “in the hope of receiving cooperation credit.”

He told the judge at his plea hearing in Chicago that he studied finance in college before joining his brothers in the drug trade. He said he was taking medication for anxiety and depression.

“He’s only in this job because his brothers are bullies,” said a law enforcement source familiar with his case who was not authorized to speak publicly.

One of these brothers is Ovidio Guzmán López, who has been detained in the United States since 2023. He pleaded guilty to several charges last July when court filings revealed that he, too, was cooperating with U.S. authorities.

Ovidio Guzmán López, leader of the Sinaloa cartel group known as Los Chapitos, was detained by Mexican security forces on October 17, 2019. He is currently detained in the United States.

(Actor / Associated Press)

Their half-brother is Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, the alleged ringleader of Los Chapitos. US officials offered $10 million prize to be caught.

Guzmán Salazar, 42, is a key figure in the case against Rocha Moya. The indictment alleges that he ordered his army of “sicarios” to wage a terror campaign to ensure the governor’s election in 2021.

Guzmán Salazar and his younger brother have been in contact with U.S. officials about the possibility of a negotiated surrender, said two sources familiar with the ongoing cases but not authorized to speak publicly. One of the sources said the talks had been going on for a year and he suspected the brothers were waiting to see how their half-brother’s case would play out before taking action.

The brothers’ attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, did not respond to questions from The Times.

It is unclear whether Guzmán Salazar would be charged with any crimes connected to Zambada’s kidnapping if he faces justice in the United States, where he is under multiple federal charges.

So far, no one has been held responsible for the murder of Rocha Moya’s political rival, Héctor Melesio Cuén Ojeda, who Zambada said was shot dead during her kidnapping. Zambada also said two of his bodyguards, one of whom is a Sinaloa state police commander, “have not been seen or heard from since.”

Sources speaking to The Times claimed that the plane carrying Zambada to the USA belonged to Guzmán Salazar, and that he was the one who organized the conspiracy.

It was stated that the pilot was released after landing and allowed to return to Mexico. He was later arrested by Mexican security forces in Sinaloa and quietly It was handed over to the Trump administration last August. along with more than two dozen other suspected cartel figures.

Sources familiar with the case identified him as Mauro Alberto Nunez Ojeda, aka Jondo.

Court records show he pleaded guilty to federal charges in Washington, D.C., last month, admitting that his role in the cartel was “direct work” for Guzmán Salazar, overseeing his fleet of planes, serving as his personal pilot and delivering drugs and weapons.

Zambada’s kidnapping is not mentioned in court records, and Nunez Ojeda’s attorney did not respond to a question about his client’s alleged role in the incident. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment.

At a press conference on July 26, 2024, Mexico’s then-president Andrés Manuel López Obrador discussed the arrests of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s son by U.S. federal agents.

(Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images)

Zambada, who faces life in prison without parole, is being held in a federal prison in Brooklyn, where former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro is also housed, awaiting a July 20 sentencing hearing.

Given the possibility of his former partner El Chapo being sent to the remote “supermax” prison in Colorado, where he has been held in extreme isolation since his conviction in 2019, some have suggested that Zambada could help him by revealing secrets about Rocha Moya and others.

Zambada’s attorney, Frank Perez, denied such a claim.

“Reports circulating in media outlets alleging that Mr. Zambada signed a cooperation agreement with the US government are categorically false,” Perez said in a statement to The Times. “Mr. Zambada has not signed any cooperation agreement, has not made any commitments under any cooperation agreement, and is not cooperating with the U.S. government in any capacity.”

It remains to be seen whether Zambada’s kidnapping was a masterstroke or a mistake on Los Chapitos’ part. The betrayal triggered a civil war within the cartel, and groups loyal to El Chapo’s sons were severely weakened last year, losing territory in Sinaloa.

Rocha Moya’s indictment looks set to deal another blow as she serves as U.S. Attorney. Gen. Todd Blanche he said last week He said more charges could soon be brought against other Mexican officials.

Whatever happens next, a source familiar with the Chapitos cases said Zambada’s kidnapping was “an absolutely legal gangster move.”