by Keegan Hamilton for Los Angeles Times
According to Los Angeles Times, the lawyer representing captured drug kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada rebutted claims that his client had been tricked into boarding an aircraft bound for the United States to be arrested Thursday, alleging that he had instead been “forcibly kidnapped” by a son of the infamous Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
Zambada, 76, was taken into custody after he arrived at a small airport near El Paso, along with Joaquín Guzmán López, a 38-year-old son of El Chapo, the Sinaloa cartel’s co-founder alongside Zambada.
The attorney, Frank Perez, rejected reports that Zambada — who has pleaded not guilty to an array of drug trafficking, gun and money laundering charges — had surrendered or been duped onto the plane.
“My client neither surrendered nor negotiated any terms with the U.S. government. Joaquín Guzmán López forcibly kidnapped my client,” Perez said in a statement first reported by The Times. “He was ambushed, thrown to the ground, and handcuffed by six men in military uniforms and Joaquín. His legs were tied, and a black bag was placed over his head. He was then thrown into the back of a pickup truck and taken to a landing strip. There, he was forced onto a plane, his legs tied to the seat by Joaquín, and brought to the U.S. against his will,” he added.
Perez said the only people on the plane were “the pilot, Joaquín and my client.”
Guzmán López faces federal indictments in Chicago and Washington for drug trafficking and his leadership role in the Sinaloa cartel. Court records do not show that he has entered any plea. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment in response to an inquiry about Perez’s statement and the status of Guzmán López.
Sources familiar with the situation who were not authorized to speak publicly about the arrests previously told The Times that Zambada had somehow been fooled into boarding the plane that brought him to U.S. soil.
“Epic, once-in-a-lifetime caper,” one law enforcement source who works in Mexico said of Zambada’s arrest. “The old man got tricked.”
According to Perez, who spoke briefly with The Times after issuing the statement, Zambada was set up by being called to a meeting with Guzmán López, a leader of the cartel faction known as Los Chapitos.
Zambada — known for his elusiveness after more than four decades on the run without capture — was traveling with a relatively light security detail, Perez said.
Caught off guard, Zambada was overpowered, the lawyer said.
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Source: Los Angeles Times
