Mexico investigates whether US lied about role in capture of drug lord

Mexico has initiated an investigation into whether the United States lied about its role in the capture and secret transfer of a top Sinaloa cartel member in 2024, potentially violating the country’s sovereignty.

The US has long denied any involvement in the operation that led to the detention of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García, a founder of the Sinaloa cartel, inside Mexico. However, recent reporting by the local outlet Pie de Nota suggested FBI involvement.

“If recent reports are confirmed,” said Mexico’s attorney general, Ernestina Godoy, on Wednesday, “then all signs point to three serious issues: a series of violations of Mexican and international law; a pact made outside the bounds of the law; and a lie told by a US diplomat, which would constitute a breach of the cornerstone principle of good faith in diplomatic relations.”

President Claudia Sheinbaum emphasized at a news conference on Thursday: “The issue here is whether there was a violation of sovereignty.” Although the incident took place under the previous administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the row comes at an extremely delicate moment in US-Mexico relations.

Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened a ground invasion of Mexico to attack drug cartels, heightening fears for Mexican sovereignty. In April, reports emerged that several CIA agents had been involved in a raid on a drug lab in northern Mexico without federal government approval. Now, the potential direct involvement of a US agency in an operation on Mexican soil has again stirred concerns over the presence of American operatives in Mexico.

In July 2024, Zambada was tricked by fellow trafficker Joaquín Guzmán López, son of drug lord “El Chapo,” into boarding a small plane in Mexico and flying to Texas, where US authorities arrested them at an airport near El Paso. Mexico has repeatedly questioned Washington about its role and complained of being kept in the dark. Then-US ambassador Ken Salazar insisted the US was not involved.

After Mexican officials insinuated Salazar had lied, the former ambassador reiterated his position on Wednesday: “It was not our plane, not our pilot, and not our operation,” he wrote on X. “La verdad es la verdad, the truth is the truth.”

However, the plane used by the traffickers was recently displayed at the War Eagles Air Museum in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. A plaque next to the plane, shared on social media, notes that two FBI agents “successfully executed a highly complex, secretive and daring arrest of two of the world’s most wanted fugitives.” Godoy said Mexican officials attempted to inspect the plane in August 2024 but were barred from a thorough inspection or taking photographs. The Americans, she added, also “provided false or inaccurate identification data for that aircraft.”