Dramatic twist of betrayal in Sinaloa Cartel arrests

July 28 (UPI) -- The co-founder of the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel was kidnapped and flown to the U.S. prior to his arrest, rather than surrendering, his lawyer said Saturday, betrayed by the son of his infamous business partner.

Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada was captured and jailed in El Paso, Texas Thursday along with Joaquín Guzmán López, the son of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who allegedly founded the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico with Zambada. Both men were said to have surrendered.

Officials announced the capture and arrest of Zambada and Guzman late Thursday, but there was no indication that Guzman had lured Zambada onto the plane when the arrests were made that day. That changed Saturday with Zambada's lawyer's claims.

Mexico's Security Secretary Rosa Icela Rodríguez said it was not clear if Zambada or Lopez were in touch with U.S. authorities, or if the arrests in El Paso were part of a plea deal when the pair flew to New Mexico Thursday and were arrested at a small airport. Zambada's lawyer said his client was never in touch with authorities about any sort of plea bargain, CNN reported .

Now, U.S. officials say the younger Guzman enticed Zambada into trusting him to take a flight to northern Mexico under the guise of looking at real estate, The New York Times reported.

Zambada's lawyer claims half a dozen men in military uniforms ambushed his client with the help of Lopez.

"Joaquín Guzmán López forcibly kidnapped my client. He was ambushed, thrown to the ground, and handcuffed by six men in military uniforms and Joaquin. His legs were tied, and a black bag was placed over his head," Pérez said in a statement.

"He was then thrown into the back of a pickup truck and taken to a landing strip. There, he was forced onto a plane, his legs tied to the seat by Joaquin, and brought to the U.S. against his will. The only people on the plane were the pilot, Joaquín and my client," Pérez added.

The director of the airport where the pair were flown was told simply to expect a "pair of VIP" passengers, USA Today reported .

"I went out to see what was going on," Bill Provance, manager of the Doña Ana County International Jetport said. The federal agents gave him a short answer. "They said, 'We've got VIPs coming in.'"

Zambada and Lopez have been sought by numerous federal agencies for decades for the Sinaloa Cartel's ties to cocaine and fentanyl trafficking into the U.S. and Europe. Attorney General Merrick Garland said at the time of their arrest that both men were facing multiple drug-related charges in the U.S. A bounty of $15 million had been issued for Zambada, who evaded capture by both Mexican and U.S. officials for decades.

It was not clear if Lopez received a more lenient sentence for allegedly delivering Zambada into the hands of U.S. authorities, but El Chapo's son was able able to use his access to Zambada and Zambada's trust to do in one short airplane fight what U.S. and Mexican officials have not able to do in decades; deliver one of the most wanted and notorious Mexican drug lords into the hands of law enforcement officials on the U.S. side of the border.

Zambada pleaded not guilty to all charges in U.S. District Court in El Paso on Friday. He is scheduled to appear in that court on Aug.1 for a status conference.

El Chapo Guzman, notorious for escaping Mexican prisons, was extradited to the United States and sentenced to life in a maximum security federal prison in Colorado in 2019 for his connection to the Sinaloa Cartel.