Can High-Profile Cartel Arrests Halt the Fentanyl Traffic?

The capture of two Sinaloa Cartel leaders is a symbolic victory – but others may stand ready to keep the fentanyl traffic running

DEEP DIVE

Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador during his usual morning press conference on July 26, 2024, a day after U.S. authorities arrested Ismael “Mayo” Zambada, co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, and a son of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, in Texas. (Photo by ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP via Getty Images)

Posted: September 19th, 2024

By Hollie McKay

Hollie McKay is a writer, war crimes investigator, and the author of “Only Cry for the Living: Memos from Inside the ISIS Battlefield.” (Jocko Publishing/Di Angelo Publications 2021). She was an investigative and international affairs/war correspondent for Fox News Digital for over fourteen years, where she focused on war, terrorism, and crimes against humanity.

DEEP DIVE — Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a co-founder and leader of Mexico’s notorious Sinaloa Cartel, has entered a not guilty plea to 17 drug trafficking charges, following in the footsteps of Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of the cartel’s founder, and setting the stage for a high-profile legal battle this fall hat could reveal the depths of cartel operations. Prosecutors and U.S. officials also hope that battle at least puts a dent in the deadly, multi-billion-dollar traffic in fentanyl, a drug that has been blamed for the deaths of more than one million Americans.

Lopez, 38, was arrested in late July, a law enforcement coup that drew global attention given that his father is Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the Sinaloa co-founder who until his latest capture in 2016 (he had escaped at least twice before) was considered one of the world’s most dangerous criminals.

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