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Sinaloa Boss Capture May Be Imminent

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.

Further coverage:

FBI Press Release On Joaquin Guzman Indictment

The Truth Behind Drug War Alliances Is Elusive

The first casualty of war is the truth the old saying goes.

A group dubbing itself Los Mata Zetas or the Zeta Killers has claimed responsibility for the murder of 35 narco traffickers from Los Zetas who were dumped last week out of two trucks onto a busy road in the tourist destination of Boca del Rio along the Gulf of Mexico in Veracruz state.

The Zeta Killers purports to be acting as a vigilante group on behalf of the people but in reality it's just a front for a hired enforcement crew tied to the Gulf and Sinaloa cartels according to Mexican officials as reported by William Booth for The Washington Post.

Meanwhile, an increasing number of well-respected and highly-informed individuals are speculating that the U.S. "Fast and Furious" gun-running scandal was a CIA operation to arm the Sinaloa cartel in order to defeat Los Zetas as reported by Michael Walsh for the New York Post: 

Under this theory, the Agency feared the los Zetas drug cartel was becoming too powerful and might even mount a coup against the Mexican government. So some 2,000 weapons costing more than $1.25 million were deliberately channeled to the rival Sinaloa cartel, which operates along the American border, to keep the Zetas in check.

Both gangsters and politicians in Mexico long have suspected that the Sinaloa cartel was getting a pass from law enforcement.  For example, last June Congressman Manuel Clouthier stated "it is obvious that in Sinaloa there is a pact" as then reported by Alexandra Olson for The Associated Press:  "'It has been a safe state for organized crime to live there and work there and develop with total tranquility,' he charges."

A top lieutenant for the Sinaloa cartel claimed last month that he and other reputed 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 deny that Sinaloa traffickers received immunity from prosecution.

Prior related coverage:

U.S. Prosecutors Deny Deal With Sinaloa Trafficker

In a court filing yesterday federal prosecutors denied the claim made last month by Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla that he and other reputed leaders of the Sinaloa cartel had received immunity from prosecution in exchange for information on rival Mexican drug cartels as reported by Natasha Koreck for the Chicago Sun-Times. 

Zambada is standing trial on drug charges in a federal court in Chicago, IL, and he made the claim in a motion to dimiss the indictment against him.

Federal prosecutors did admit authorizing DEA meetings with Mexican attorney Humberto Loya Castro as a "cooperating fugitive defendant" who was indicted in 1995 with reputed boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and Zambada's father Ismael Zambada Garcia. 

However, they never gave immunity to Zambada, and specifically instructed the DEA not even to meet with him according to the court papers.  Zambada impermissibly is attempting to cloak himself with the cooperation arrangement the United States had with Loya Castro the federal prosecutors wrote as reported by The Associated Press:

Distilled, defendant's argument is that if one member of a criminal organization is indicted and cooperates, every member of that organization whether it is a drug trafficking cartel, a Mafia organization, or a street gang is immune from prosecution for all of their organization's criminal acts.  That is not the law, and defendant's motion fails because of it.

Ineed, the mere fact that Zambada was arrested rather conclusively belies the existence of any immunity agreement, and the alleged drug lord has failed to explain why federal prosecutors would have reneged on such a deal even assuming one existed.

Drug Lord Claims DEA Protection

A top lieutenant for the Sinaloa cartel claims that for years DEA agents allowed the drug trafficking organization "to traffic several tons of cocaine into the United States in exchange for information about rival cartels" as reported by Diana Washington Valdez for the El Paso Times.

Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla a/k/a El Vicentillo was extradited to the United States following his March 2009 arrest in an exclusive neighborhood of Mexico City, and he made the explosive allegations this week in a pretrial court filing which states that just prior to his arrest "he and a top cartel lawyer met at a Mexico City hotel with two DEA agents, and were told they were immune from prosecution" as reported by Dane Schiller for the San Antonio Express.

According to Zambada the cooperative relationship between the DEA and Sinaloa cartel was struck in 2004 by Mexican attorney Humberto Loya Castro in order to avoid his prosecution on a 1995 indictment and further to protect reputed boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman as reported by the Latin American Herald Tribune.  Indeed, in 2008 the charges were dropped against Loya Castro, and "the presumption was that he'd been collaborating with U.S. prosecutors on bringing Mexican drug traffickers to justice" as reported by Tim Johnson for McClatchy.

Zambada is the son of Ismael Zambada Garcia, another reputed top dog in the Sinaloa cartel, whom he claims also enjoys immunity pursuant to the agreement with U.S. authorities.

Both gangsters and politicians in Mexico long have suspected that the Sinaloa cartel was getting a pass from law enforcement.  For example, last June Congressman Manuel Clouthier stated "it is obvious that in Sinaloa there is a pact" as then reported by Alexandra Olson for The Associated Press:  "'It has been a safe state for organized crime to live there and work there and develop with total tranquility,' he charges."

The trial against Zambada is proceeding in a federal court in Chicago, IL, and the judge has ordered the government to respond to the allegations by September 11.

Prior related coverage:

Ex-U.S. Soldier: Sinaloa Drug Trafficker

Mexican federal police have arrested Jose Vasquez Villagrana -- a former soldier in the United States Army who allegedly smuggled two tons of cocaine a month for the Sinaloa cartel -- in Santa Ana, Sonora on the Arizona border as reported by Alexandra Olson for The Associated Press:

He joined the U.S. military in Arizona in 1990 and deserted a year after getting his U.S. citizenship, according to Mexico's federal Public Safety Department. He is believed to have returned to Mexico, where he began trafficking. Vasquez is accused of smuggling Colombian cocaine through Panama and other countries to the northern Mexican state of Sonora. The drugs were stored at his ranch and then sent to the United States. * * * Police described Vasquez as a key player in the Sinaloa cartel, although he does not appear on a list of Mexico's most-wanted traffickers. Vasquez slowly built up his operation in Sonora, eventually buying planes that he put at the service of Sinaloa kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, police said.

Meanwhile, Jesus Vincente Zambada-Niebla pleaded not guilty yesterday in a federal courthouse in Chicago, IL "to charges that he conspired to import and sell large amounts of cocaine and heroin in the United States" as reported by Mike Robinson for The Associated Press:

An especially large security contingent were on hand for the hearing in what prosecutors are calling the largest international drug conspiracy case in the Chicago's history.  Authorities say Zambada-Niebla was an influential, second-generation member of the Sinaloa drug cartel, and that he helped move large amounts of cocaine and heroin from South and Central America to the United States from 2005 to 2008. They say hundreds of kilograms of cocaine were taken to Chicago. * * * Zambada-Niebla was among three dozen defendants indicted in August in Chicago and is also charged in a separate case pending in the nation's capital. * * * Also charged in the indictment are the two alleged top leaders of the Sinaloa cartel, Joaquin "el Chapo" Guzman-Loera and Ismael "el Mayo" Zambada-Garcia. Federal officials said Zambada-Garcia is the father of Zambada-Niebla. Both of those men are currently at large.