Year After El Mayo Capture, Mexico Presses US Amid Sinaloa Bloodshed

Mexico on Friday marked the first anniversary of the surprise capture and transfer of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García, co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, whose hand-over to U.S. agents on 25 July 2024 remains under dispute. The Fiscalía General de la República said it is still waiting for Washington to detail how Zambada was flown to El Paso, while President Claudia Sheinbaum reiterated that future security cooperation with the United States must be “without interference”. Violence unleashed by the power vacuum has left at least 1,538 confirmed homicides, more than 1,100 disappearances and 5,784 stolen vehicles between October 2024 and June 2025, according to state prosecutors. Federal authorities have deployed more than 11,000 army and navy personnel, arrested 1,487 alleged cartel members, dismantled nearly 100 clandestine drug labs and seized over 53 tonnes of narcotics in Sinaloa. The internecine war pits Zambada loyalists, dubbed “La Mayiza”, against the “Los Chapitos” faction led by sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said last week that cartel finances and logistics have been “significantly weakened”, but acknowledged that the conflict continues to fuel record levels of violence in Culiacán, Mazatlán and surrounding municipalities. In New York, Zambada faces 17 federal counts ranging from drug trafficking to money laundering. U.S. prosecutors and defence counsel told Judge Brian Cogan they are negotiating a possible plea deal ahead of a hearing set for 25 August 2025; the defendant could face life in prison or, if the case is certified as capital, the death penalty. Mexico has requested his extradition four times without success, deepening bilateral tensions over the opaque circumstances of his capture.