United States federal prosecutors in El Paso, TX may be signalling the imminent arrest by Mexican authorities of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the Forbes-listed billionaire who heads the powerful Sinaloa cartel, with his indictment as reported by Jared Taylor for Reuters:
The 28-page indictment filed April 11 in U.S. District Court in El Paso, Texas, targets Guzman and 23 other men with overseeing the cartel's primary task: moving thousands of pounds of narcotics into the United States. The cartel kidnapped, tortured and murdered its enemies to further its operations in Mexico and the United States, according to the charges.
Last February Mexican federal police "nearly nabbed" Guzman at a mansion in the coastal resort town of Los Cabos in the country's southern Baja peninsula as reported by Fox News Latino: "the incident fuels growing speculation that authorities are closing in on Guzmán, and that the government of President Felipe Calderón is determined to grab him before his six-year term ends in December."
Also charged in the indictment is Ismael "Mayo" Zambada Garcia who is charged as the co-leader of the Sinaloa cartel.
Mexican authorities recently extradited alleged Sinaloa drug lord Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla -- the son of Ismael Zambada Garcia -- to the United States. Earlier this month a federal judge in Chicago, IL denied his motion to dismiss drug trafficking charges after finding the reputed narco did not have an immunity agreement with the U.S. government as reported by Frank Main for the Chicago Sun-Times.
Zambada-Niebla a/k/a "El Vicentillo" claimed that he and other reputed Sinaloa leaders were allowed by U.S. authorities to bring cocaine into the country for years in exchange for information on rivals, and although federal prosecutors admit to at least one cooperating agreement otherwise denied that the cartel received immunity from prosecution.
Earlier this week the Mexico's federal attorney general announced the arrests of two nephews of Ismael Zambada Garcia "in the border city of Tijuana on suspicion of smuggling 15 kilos of cocaine" as reported by The Associated Press.
Colombian authorities this week delievered a financial blow to the Sinalo cartel, and seized a treasure trove including "36 houses and apartments, 15 companies and six luxury cars" which belonged to Pedro Antonio Bermudez Suaza who allegedly was a former "right-hand man" to Joaquin Guzman as reported by Reuters: "the seizure of assets, valued at about $15 million, followed the expropriation in 2010 of 264 Sinaloa-owned goods valued at some $85 million." Bermudez Suaza was arrested by Mexican authorities in 2008, and currently is in a New York jail where he reportedly is cooperating with the DEA.
It's a good bet that the noose is tightening around El Chapo.
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