Two top figures in Sinaloa drug cartel in US custody

EL PASO

U.S. agents arrested two top leaders of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel in Texas on July 25, the justice department said, striking a major blow to one of the most powerful and violent criminal organizations in the world.

Ismael Zambada Garcia, also known as “El Mayo,” cofounder of the cartel, and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, a son of its other co-founder, were arrested in El Paso, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

Details about the arrests have not been officially released, but U.S. media said law enforcement sources described a dramatic sting operation in which El Mayo was unwittingly lured across the border.

Garland described the Sinaloa cartel as "one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world."

The pair face "multiple charges in the United States for leading the Cartel's criminal operations, including its deadly fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks," he said.

The arrests are another major blow to the Sinaloa cartel, whose co-founder Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison in the United States.

El Chapo was convicted in 2019 of running what was believed to be the world's biggest narcotics syndicate.

The cartel, which was born in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, is one of Mexico's most powerful and violent criminal groups.

After El Chapo's capture, several of his sons, collectively known as the "Chapitos" or "The Little Chapos," inherited control of the organization, according to U.S. authorities.

One son, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, was extradited to the United States last year to face narcotics charges.