The world’s most powerful drug kingpin, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, is disputing claims that he was duped into boarding the plane that delivered him to US authorities in Texas last month.
Zambada, who was arrested alongside one of the sons of El Chapo, Joaquin Guzmán López, on July 25, says he was ambushed at a meeting in Culiacan and put on a three-hour flight to the US — and not tricked into getting on the plane with the lure of a real estate deal.
“To the contrary, I was kidnapped and brought to the U.S. forcibly and against my will,” Zambada wrote in a letter from prison that was released by his lawyer and obtained by CBS News.
He wrote there were “many inaccurate reports” and he will give the “true facts.” He said he wanted everyone to know he did not turn himself in, have an agreement or come voluntarily, the outlet reported.
“El Mayo” wrote that he attended the meeting per Guzmán López’s request to settle differences among political leaders in Sinaloa.
There, he saw a large group of men in military uniforms. He claims he was led into a dark room and ambushed. A hood was placed over his head and he was put on the plane, he wrote in the letter.
The Mexican Sinaloa cartel leaders were detained in El Paso on charges related to drug-trafficking linked to the deadly spread of fentanyl and methamphetamine, according to the US Justice Department.
Officials said Zambada was lured onto the plane thinking he and Guzmán López would scope out real estate in Mexico.
Instead, the aircraft landed in El Paso where US Homeland Security agents were waiting.
The kingpin’s arrest was likely an out for Guzmán López and his brother, who may get shorter sentences in exchange for cooperating with the US in the case against Zambada.
“The old man got tricked,” one law enforcement source told The Los Angeles Times.
Zambada arrived in the U.S. and was taken into custody by federal officials, eventually pleading not guilty, according to court records.
In his letter, he also denied killing Héctor Cuen, former congressman and mayor of Culiacan, and denied involvement in the disappearance of José Rosario Heras López, a commander in the State Judicial Police of Sinaloa.
He called on the US and Mexico to be “transparent” about his “abduction,” and urged the people of Sinaloa to remain peaceful.