Mexico investigates whether US lied about role in capture of drug lord | Mexico
Mexico launched an investigation Whether the USA is lying or not He is involved in the capture and secret transfer of a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa cartel in 2024, which would be a potential violation of the country’s sovereignty.
The US has long denied any role detention operation Drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García, founder of the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico. Latest reporting by local media outlet Pie de Notabut claimed the FBI was involved in his capture.
“If the latest reports are confirmed, then all signs point to three serious issues: a series of violations of Mexican and international law, an agreement made outside the bounds of law, and a lie told by a US diplomat that would constitute a violation of the principle of good faith, the fundamental principle of diplomatic relations,” Mexican attorney general Ernestina Godoy said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The issue here is whether sovereignty has been violated,” President Claudia Sheinbaum said at a news conference Thursday.
Although the incident occurred under the previous administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the controversy comes at an extremely sensitive time in U.S.-Mexico relations.
Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to launch a ground attack on Mexico to attack drug cartels, raising fears about Mexico’s sovereignty. Meanwhile, in April, reports emerged that several CIA agents had raided a pharmaceutical laboratory in northern Mexico, apparently without the approval or knowledge of the federal government.
Now, the potential for a U.S. agency to be directly involved in an operation on Mexican soil has once again raised fears about the presence of American agents in Mexico.
In July 2024, Zambada García was tricked by trafficker Joaquín Guzmán López, whose father was the drug lord known as “El Chapo”, into boarding a small plane within Mexico and flying to Texas; where US authorities arrested both at an airport near El Paso.
Mexico has repeatedly questioned Washington about its role and complained that it was left in the dark. Ken Salazar, the American ambassador at the time, insisted that the United States was not involved.
After Mexican officials implied Salazar was lying, the former ambassador reiterated his position on Wednesday: “This was not our plane, it was not our pilot, and it was not our operation,” he wrote to X. “La verdad es la verdad, the truth is the truth.”
But the plane the smugglers were traveling in was recently displayed at the War Eagles Air Museum in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. A plaque next to the plane shared on social media It states that two FBI agents “successfully carried out the highly sophisticated, secret and daring arrest of two of the world’s most wanted fugitives.”
Godoy said Mexican officials tried to inspect the plane in August 2024 but were prohibited from doing a thorough inspection or taking photographs. He said the Americans also “provided false or inaccurate identification information for this aircraft.”
