Skip to main content

Mexico probing possible U.S. violation in drug lord capture: ‘Someone lied’

▶ Watch Video: How the FBI captured 2 leaders of the Sinaloa cartel

Mexico said Tuesday it is investigating whether its sovereignty was violated by the United States in the 2024 capture of drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, in the latest flareup of diplomatic tensions over Washington’s war on cartels.

The inquiry comes after the FBI displayed in an exhibition the plane used to bring most-wanted Zambada, co-founder of the notorious Sinaloa cartel, to the United States.

“If one of the U.S. agencies participated in this operation, they would be violating international treaties and the (Mexican) constitution,” President Claudia Sheinbaum said at her daily press conference.

Zambada was arrested in the United States in July 2024 alongside Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of Sinaloa cartel co-founder Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who is also imprisoned.

When Guzman Lopez pleaded guilty to U.S. narcotrafficking charges last December, he admitted to having kidnapped Zambada to bring him to the United States — a betrayal meant to win favor with U.S. authorities. According to details revealed in Guzman’s plea deal, Zambada was ambushed, loaded onto a plane, drugged and spirited across the border to the United States.

The U.S. Embassy in Mexico said in 2024 that no U.S. agency had participated in the operation, Mexican government secretary Rosa Icela Rodriguez said at the morning news conference.

“The versions are contradictory. Someone lied,” she said.

“What agreements did that agency have, or who else participated with the criminal group?” Sheinbaum said, according to La Jornada. “In this case, everything seems to indicate that the ambassador (Ken Salazar) lied.”

Last August, Zambada pleaded guilty to federal charges related to his role as a co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, including drug trafficking, gun offenses and money laundering. Federal prosecutors alleged that Zambada and other Sinaloa cartel leaders were responsible for massive quantities of heroin, cocaine and fentanyl and other illegal drugs being distributed into the U.S.

cropped22el-mayo22.png
Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada

CBS News

The war between factions of the Sinaloa cartel unleashed after the arrest of Zambada has left thousands dead and missing.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly said that drug cartels control Mexico, warning he will use boots on the ground south of the border if Sheinbaum doesn’t crack down on criminal gangs.

Sheinbaum has downplayed the threats, emphasizing that Mexican soldiers use U.S. intelligence to track down narcotraffickers — as with the killing of cartel boss Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera in a raid in February.

In April, two CIA agents died in unclear circumstances during an anti-drug operation alongside soldiers and state police in the border state of Chihuahua — without apparent authorization from Mexico’s federal government.

Sheinbaum’s administration opened an investigation, still ongoing, into whether the presence of the agents represented a violation of national security laws, creating fresh diplomatic friction.

Days later, the U.S. Justice Department indicted the then-governor of Sinaloa, Ruben Rocha Moya, as well as nine other current and former officials, on drug charges.

Rocha Moya is a member of Sheinbaum’s ruling left-leaning Morena party — and a close ally of her mentor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Sheinbaum responded to the indictments by requesting the U.S. provide “irrefutable” evidence against Rocha Moya before potentially extraditing him.

Trump has squandered Republicans’ typical advantages in 2 key areas

By CNN
(CNN) — President Donald Trump’s political stature is so poor right now that he has squandered the Republican Party’s advantage on two major issues that almost always favor the GOP: the economy and national security.A Reuters-Ipsos poll this week showed Democrats and Republicans virtually tied on “war, foreign conflicts and terrorism.” The GOP led on that issue by 11 points after the 2024 election. Today, 37% of US adults say Democrats have a better approach, compared to 36% who say the GOP does.Fox News polling a couple weeks back showed something very similar: On national security, 50% of registered voters preferred the GOP, to 48% who preferred the Democratic Party. That’s compared to a 12-point edge for Republicans in January, before the Iran war.Both recent findings are within the margin of error. But the numbers even being that close is basically unheard of.Fox polling has regularly tested how registered voters compare the two parties on terrorism and national security. Until the Iran war, Democrats had never even been within double-digits of the Republican Party on either issue.Republicans have also led consistently on national security in Gallup polling. Democrats only nosed ahead on that issue once in the 21st century: in 2007.Gallup’s data on which party is better on “international terrorism and military threats” has been even more lopsided in the GOP’s favor.Across 22 polls conducted since a year after 9/11, Democrats have led on that issue only once — again, in 2007 — and most of the time Republicans led by double-digits.And then there’s the economy.The most recent Fox survey showed Democrats leading on that issue by nine points, 54%-45%. That was the biggest Democratic advantage since 2006, when they led by 20 points.And when they took a lead on the economy back in April, it marked the first time they were ahead since 2010, shortly after the 2008 financial crisis that began during the George W. Bush administration.CNN polling back in May showed a closer split between the two parties on the economy, with 35% of adults preferring Democrats, compared to 33% who preferred the GOP.The poll previously asked people to choose between congressional Republicans and congressional Democrats. The last time Republicans didn’t lead on that question was 2009.The numbers on both fronts seem to illustrate that Trump greatly miscalculated the fallout from launching the Iran war — as well as other controversial policies like his global tariffs.By launching the tariffs, he effectively took ownership of whatever became of the economic picture. Then he compounded negative public sentiment by basically shrugging off any responsibility to address Americans’ inflation concerns. Now he’s contending with a still-stagnant economic picture, with the economy shedding 23,000 jobs in July.Americans don’t love Democrats; in fact, the blue side remains pretty unpopular in polls. So the fact that they’ve apparently taken a lead on the economy really says something.And the national security numbers might be even more striking — because Democrats hardly ever even compete with Republicans on the topic.Just as education and health care almost always favor Democrats, national security and defending the homeland are almost always signature GOP issues, and lopsidedly so.That remained true even when Bush launched wars in the Middle East that gradually became pretty unpopular.Trump, though, seems to have botched the Iran war so badly that Americans suddenly see Democrats on equal footing with the GOP — in terms of issues on the GOP’s own turf.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
Read Next Story

Related Stories

Latest News
¿Ver demasiada televisión es malo para tu cerebro? Es posible
49 minutes ago

¿Ver demasiada televisión es malo para tu cerebro? Es posible

Some meat products with jalapeños may be linked to salmonella outbreak, USDA says

Winning Powerball numbers drawn for $863 million jackpot, the largest of the year

Family of murdered photographer wonders if his killer acted alone

This week on 'Sunday Morning' (Aug. 9)