Kidnapping of El Chapo’s cartel partner hangs over U.S. indictment of Mexican governor

The indictment is remarkable for its detail, revealing a web of corruption at the highest levels of the Mexican government.

At the center, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, is Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya, accused of allowing his state’s eponymous cartel to operate with impunity after its leaders secured his election by sending armed men to intimidate rival candidates, steal ballots and threaten voters at the polls.

Rocha Moya, who insisted he did nothing wrong when he took a leave of absence from his governorship this month to respond to the accusations, is allegedly in cahoots with “Los Chapitos,” a cartel faction led by four sons of the infamous Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

While prosecutors in the Southern District of New York presented damning evidence, the indictment was equally notable for how much was not mentioned. One name in particular was conspicuously absent: Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, longtime partner of El Chapo and reputed to be the most powerful godfather of the Sinaloa cartel.

Beyond a ledger of monthly bribes paid to top Sinaloan officials that prosecutors said had been “recovered in Mexico” during the investigation, the indictment appeared to rely on evidence that must have been obtained through extraordinary surveillance — or from people intimately familiar with Los Chapitos.

Many cartel leaders, under pressure from U.S. authorities, have turned against each other in recent years – and the latest case raises the question of whether more betrayals are yet to come. Two sons of El Chapo are still on the run, although it appears they could strike a deal to avoid being killed or captured.

Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya, left, attends an event in Mexico City on April 17. Rocha Moya was accused this month by US authorities of being corrupted by the Sinaloa cartel. He denied the allegations.

(Luis Barron / Eyepix Group / Sipa USA via AP)

The charges against Rocha Moya and nine other current and former Sinaloa officials have shaken Mexican politics and intensified scrutiny over the final details of the cases of Zambada and two Chapitos already in U.S. custody.

Some suspect that the chain of events that led to the recent accusations began nearly two years ago, when a private jet arrived at a small New Mexico airport carrying three people.

One of them was Zambada, a septuagenarian kingpin with so many judges, generals and politicians in his pocket that he was able to avoid spending a single night in prison in a criminal career that stretched back to the 1970s. Others on board were the pilot and Joaquín Guzmán López, 39, son of El Chapo and Zambada’s godson.

According to Zambada’s version of what happened, recounted in a statement released by his lawyer, he was ambushed and kidnapped by Guzmán López, who lured him to a villa on the outskirts of Sinaloa’s capital, Culiacán, where he hoped to mediate a dispute between Rocha Moya and another Sinaloa politician.

Rocha Moya claims his name was used as bait. The governor has denied knowledge of the plot and has an alibi that he was traveling to Los Angeles that day. Zambada only described seeing the other politician, who he said was shot at the scene.

Zambada said Guzmán López forced him onto the plane, then delivered him to FBI and Department of Homeland Security agents waiting on the New Mexico tarmac.

Zambada pleaded guilty in August to co-founding the Sinaloa cartel and trafficking thousands of tons of drugs. Appearing in federal court in Brooklyn, he said his business relied on “paying bribes to police officers, military commanders and politicians so that they would allow us to operate freely.”

It was long assumed that Guzmán López kidnapped Zambada in hopes of currying favor with American authorities. That theory was confirmed when he took a plea deal in December in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

At the time of his surrender, Guzmán López was facing a series of U.S. federal charges, which could have resulted in a life sentence. By cooperating, he will serve a much shorter sentence — a minimum of 10 years, according to a transcript of his plea hearing reviewed by the Times.

Joaquín Guzmán López, 39, son of the Sinaloa cartel leader known as “El Chapo,” was arrested on July 25, 2024 in New Mexico, along with his godfather, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.

(Associated Press)

His plea agreement states that U.S. authorities “did not request, instigate, sanction, approve or condone the kidnapping” of Zambada, referred to as “Individual A.” The agreement specifies that Guzmán López acted “in the hope of receiving cooperation credit.”

At his plea hearing in Chicago, he told the judge he studied finance in college before joining his brothers in the drug trade. He said he was taking medication for anxiety and depression.

“He is in the business only because his brothers are tyrants,” said a police source close to the case, not authorized to speak publicly.

One of these brothers is Ovidio Guzmán López, who has been detained in the United States since 2023. He pleaded guilty to various charges last July, when court documents revealed that he too was cooperating with American authorities.

Ovidio Guzmán López, a leader of the Sinaloa Cartel faction known as Los Chapitos, was arrested on October 17, 2019 by Mexican security forces. He is now detained in the United States.

(Uncredited / Associated Press)

Their half-brother is the alleged leader of Los Chapitos: Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar. US authorities have offered a $10 million reward for his capture.

Guzmán Salazar, 42, is a key figure in the Rocha Moya case, with the indictment alleging he ordered his army of “sicarios” to carry out a campaign of terror to secure the 2021 gubernatorial election.

Two sources familiar with the ongoing cases but not authorized to speak publicly said Guzmán Salazar and his younger brother were in contact with U.S. authorities about the possibility of a negotiated surrender. One of the sources said discussions had been ongoing for a year and suspected the brothers were waiting to see how their half-siblings’ cases played out before making a decision.

The brothers’ attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, did not respond to questions from The Times.

If Guzmán Salazar were ever to face justice in the United States – where he faces multiple federal indictments – it is unclear whether he will be charged with crimes related to Zambada’s kidnapping.

So far, no one has been held accountable for the murder of Héctor Melesio Cuén Ojeda, a political rival of Rocha Moya who Zambada said was shot dead during his kidnapping. Zambada also said two of his bodyguards, including a Sinaloa state police commander, had not been “seen or heard from since.”

Sources who spoke to The Times said the plane that flew Zambada to the United States belonged to Guzmán Salazar, suggesting he was the one who orchestrated the plot.

The pilot was reportedly released after landing and allowed to return to Mexico. He was then arrested in Sinaloa by Mexican security forces and quietly handed over to the Trump administration last August, along with more than two dozen other suspected cartel figures.

Sources close to the case identified him as Mauro Alberto Nunez Ojeda, alias Jondo.

Court records show he pleaded guilty to federal charges last month in Washington, D.C., admitting that his job in the cartel included “working directly” for Guzmán Salazar, supervising his fleet of planes, serving as his personal pilot and transporting shipments of drugs and weapons.

Court documents make no mention of Zambada’s kidnapping, and Nunez Ojeda’s attorney did not respond to a question about his client’s alleged role in the case. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.

During a press conference on July 26, 2024, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, then Mexican president, discussed the arrest of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and a son of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán by U.S. federal agents.

(Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images)

Facing life in prison without the possibility of parole, Zambada is being held pending his July 20 sentencing hearing at the same Brooklyn federal prison that houses former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

Given the possibility that he will be sent to Colorado’s isolated “supermax” prison, where his former partner El Chapo has been held in extreme isolation since his 2019 conviction, some have speculated that Zambada may seek to help himself by revealing secrets about Rocha Moya and others.

Zambada’s lawyer, Frank Perez, denied any such thing.

“Reports circulating in the media claiming that Mr. Zambada has entered into a cooperative agreement with the United States government are categorically false,” Perez said in a statement to the Times. “Mr. Zambada has not entered into any cooperative agreement, has not pleaded under any cooperative agreement, and is not cooperating with the United States Government in any capacity.”

It remains to be seen whether Zambada’s kidnapping was a masterstroke or a mistake on the part of Los Chapitos. This betrayal sparked a civil war within the cartel and factions loyal to El Chapo’s sons have been severely weakened over the past year, losing territory across Sinaloa.

Rocha Moya’s indictment appears to deal another blow to the acting U.S. attorney. Gen. Todd Blanche said last week that more charges could soon be brought against other Mexican officials.

Regardless of what happens next, a source close to the Chapitos cases said Zambada’s kidnapping was “a legitimate gangster move, for sure.”