The leader and co-founder of Mexico's notorious Sinaloa cartel was arrested Thursday by the FBI, multiple sources confirmed to CBS News.
Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada was taken into custody by the FBI without incident along the border near El Paso, Texas, a senior official familiar with the arrest told CBS News. No further details about his arrest were immediately available.
Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada was arrested after having been a U.S. fugitive for many years. The State Department in 2016 offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the capture of Zambada.
The Tijuana-based Sinaloa cartel is one of Mexico's most powerful and violent criminal organizations. Zambada founded the cartel along with Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who was captured in 2016 and is currently serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison in the U.S. after being convicted on charges including drug trafficking and money laundering.
Last year, federal prosecutors in the U.S. unsealed criminal charges against 28 members and associates of Sinaloa — including the three sons of Guzmán — accusing them of orchestrating a transnational fentanyl trafficking operation into the United States. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Justice Department officials blamed the defendants for the loss of hundreds of thousands of American lives from fentanyl.
This is a breaking news update. Please check back for developments.
— Robert Legare contributed reporting.
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