Commentary:
On July 25, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, drug kingpin and head of the Sinaloa Cartel, was captured at the Santa Teresa Jetport in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, not in El Paso, Texas, as many news sources reported. Also captured with El Mayo was drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s son, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, when their airplane touched down in Santa Teresa at approximately 2 p.m. that day. The apprehension of El Mayo and Guzman arguably represents the biggest capture of drug lords on U.S. soil in history. News is still trickling out as to why they flew to Santa Teresa and whether El Mayo was tricked by Guzman, who reportedly cut a deal with U.S. officials, or if El Mayo was forcibly kidnapped and flown to the U.S. He is being held in El Paso, while Guzman was flown to Chicago to face charges there.
My office is very close to the Santa Teresa Jetport, and on the Friday after the arrests, I was overcome by curiosity and went to the Jetport to see the scene, thinking that I might talk to someone who witnessed the drama. Upon pulling into a parking lot by the airport, I saw a two-propeller plane parked on the tarmac very close to the parking lot. Two reporters from Mexico were taking pictures of the plane and reading reports into recorders. I talked to one of the reporters, who verified that the plane was Guzman’s, and it was indeed the plane that flew them to Santa Teresa. I also snapped a couple of pictures, stared at the plane, and started thinking of Mexico’s drug cartels, and the U.S.’s hunger for illegal drugs sourced from Mexico.
El Mayo and El Chapo joined forces approximately three decades ago, eventually forming what would become known as the Sinaloa Cartel. El Chapo was traditionally the more flamboyant and violent partner, and was long a target of U.S. and Mexico law enforcement agencies before he was permanently caught and extradited to the U.S. in 2017. He is serving a life sentence for drug trafficking and murder. In contrast to El Chapo, El Mayo took a more low-key approach to his cartel and focused more on business. Reports claim that he lived a quiet, almost rustic lifestyle. Unlike El Chapo, until July 25 he had never been arrested. The U.S. had placed a bounty on his head of $15 million. After the fall of El Chapo, El Mayo was arguably the biggest drug lord in the world.
In its early days, the Sinaloa Cartel started out by shipping marijuana and cocaine to the U.S. Today, it ships the more lucrative fentanyl and methamphetamine. It has also branched out into extortion, kidnapping, and human smuggling. El Chapo and El Mayo built a sophisticated empire with tentacles in many different businesses.
Returning to my office, I showed pictures of the plane to my staff, many of whom were either born in Mexico or whose families are from there. They were excited and made me turn around and go back so that they could see the airplane. More Mexican reporters were on the site. One was asking an airport staff member if he realized that “something historic” had occurred in Santa Teresa with the arrests yesterday. It dawned on me how revered Mexican drug lords are, and not necessarily in a good way. They are evil celebrities, constantly on the run from authorities, bribing officials, committing murders, and making billions of dollars. In many cases, they get the support of the community they are operating in by subsidizing projects such as the building of schools and churches.
It also occurred to me how El Mayo is a household name in Mexico, but very few Americans I talked to after his arrest really knew much about him. This is the guy who founded the Sinaloa Cartel and successfully had a decades-long career smuggling drugs into the U.S. He also had been successful in avoiding arrest and being murdered. He was 76 years old at the time of his capture.
I’ve seen reports that Mexico’s illegal drug exports could be around $25 billion per year. Some estimates are higher and others lower. This reveals how we really don’t know how many illegal drugs are entering the U.S. However, this trade, albeit illegal, is trade. Mexican cartels send drugs to the U.S., and we send them money and weapons. Most illegal drugs smuggled into the U.S. are brought here by Americans hired to bring them through ports of entry. Experts are predicting that the void left by El Mayo could result in increased gang and cartel violence in Mexico, control of the drug trade being as lucrative as it is. El Mayo’s personal wealth is estimated to be worth about $3 billion. Last year, a Los Angeles Times report quoted a study that estimated that 175,000 people are on the payrolls of the cartels – a staggering figure. The cartels have to recruit an estimated 350 to 370 new members each week to make up for members who have been arrested or murdered.
Users of illegal drugs have made the Mexican cartels and people like El Mayo who they are. Sadly, until we solve the addiction crisis at home, new drug lords and cartels will continue to find innovate ways to bring drugs into the U.S.
Jerry Pacheco is President of the Border Industrial Association. Jerry Pacheco's opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of KRWG Public Media or NMSU.