MEXICO CITY (AP) 鈥 A new era is coming for Mexico鈥檚 powerful Sinaloa cartel in the wake of the capture by U.S. authorities of Ismael 鈥淓l Mayo鈥 Zambada, the last of the grand old Mexican drug traffickers.
Experts believe his arrest will usher in a new wave of violence in Mexico even as Zambada could potentially provide loads of information for U.S. prosecutors.
Zambada, who had eluded authorities for decades and had never set foot in prison, was known for being an astute operator, skilled at corrupting officials and having an ability to negotiate with everyone, including rivals.
Removing him from the criminal landscape could set off an internal war for control of the cartel that has a global reach 鈥 as has occurred with 鈥 and open the door to the more violent inclinations of a younger generation of Sinaloa traffickers, experts say.
With that in mind, the Mexican government deployed 200 members of its special forces Friday to Culiacan, Sinaloa state鈥檚 capital.
There is 鈥渟ignificant potential for high escalation of violence across Mexico," said Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow in the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy and Technology at the Brookings Institution. That 鈥渋s bad for Mexico, it's bad for the United States, as well as the possibility that the even more vicious (Jalisco New Generation cartel) will rise to even greater importance."
For that reason, Zambada鈥檚 arrest could be considered a 鈥済reat tactical success,鈥 but strategically problematic, Felbab-Brown said.
While details remain scarce, a United States official who spoke on condition of anonymity said , where he was arrested along with Joaqu铆n Guzm谩n L贸pez, a son of the infamous Sinaloa leader Joaqu铆n 鈥淓l Chapo鈥 Guzm谩n. The elder Guzm谩n is serving a life sentence in the United States.
A small plane left Hermosillo in northern Mexico on Thursday morning with only an American pilot aboard, bound for the airport in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, near El Paso, Texas. Mexican Security Secretary Rosa Icela Rodr铆guez said Friday that while one person left Hermosillo, three people arrived in New Mexico.
The flight tracking site Flight Aware showed the plane stopped transmitting its elevation and speed for about half an hour over the mountains of northern Mexico before resuming its course to the U.S.
Mexican President Andr茅s Manuel L贸pez Obrador, a vocal critic of the strategy of taking down drug kingpins, said Friday that Mexico had not participated or known about the U.S. operation, but said he considered the arrests an 鈥渁dvance.鈥
Later, L贸pez Obrador, while talking about where the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels are battling for control of smuggling routes along the Guatemala border on Friday, that had .
He said, as he often has, that it鈥檚 his political adversaries who are trying to make Mexico鈥檚 violence appear to be out of control. But those cartels were already fighting each other in many locations throughout Mexico before Zambada鈥檚 arrest.
Frank P茅rez, a lawyer for Zambada, told The Associated Press that his client 鈥渄id not come to the U.S. voluntarily.鈥
It appeared the sons of 鈥淓l Chapo鈥 Guzm谩n were somehow in on the trap for Zambada, said Jos茅 Reveles, author of a number of books about the cartels. The so-called Chapitos, or Little Chapos, make up a faction within the Sinaloa cartel that was often at odds with Zambada even while trafficking drugs.
Guzm谩n L贸pez, who was also arrested Thursday, 鈥渋s not his friend nor his collaborator,鈥 Reveles said.
He is considered to be the least influential of the four brothers who make up the Chapitos, who are considered among the main exporters of the to the United States. Joaqu铆n Guzm谩n L贸pez is now the second of them to land in U.S. custody. Their chief of security was arrested by Mexican authorities in November.
Guzm谩n L贸pez has been accused of being the cartel鈥檚 link for importing the precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl from Asia and for setting up the labs that produce the drug, Reveles said.
Anne Milgram, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration chief, said that Zambada鈥檚 arrest 鈥渟trikes at the heart of the cartel that is responsible for the majority of drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, killing Americans from coast to coast.鈥
During the current Mexican administration, which ends Sept. 30, Mexico has been unable to control the country鈥檚 violence. L贸pez Obrador鈥檚 decision to focus on alleviating what he sees as the root causes of violence instead of head-on confrontation with the cartels has caused tensions with the U.S. authorities, in particular the DEA.
Felbab-Brown said it has also allowed the cartels to accumulate power that 鈥渋s unprecedented in Mexico's history."
Zambada could now offer reams of information about the cartel鈥檚 operations if he decides to cooperate. He faces charges in multiple U.S. federal courts.
He was the cartel鈥檚 most skilled agent of corruption and the most influential trafficker who 鈥渉as been running extensive corruption networks across many administrations in Mexico, across vast geographic spaces, from the top of the Mexican government to municipal institutions," Felbab-Brown said.
鈥淭he most important thing to watch is how much intelligence El Mayo will now provide and how much evidence in exchange for better terms," she said.
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Durkin Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press journalists Christopher Sherman, Alexis Triboulard and Mart铆n Silva in Mexico City contributed to this story.
