Mexican drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada would have been deceived by the son of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and violently forced to board an aircraft that took him from Sinaloa to El Paso, Texas, United States, according to his testimony given to Reuters on Saturday by his lawyer in that country.
“El Mayo,” explained in the document released by his legal representative, Frank Pérez, who was “ambushed” during what was supposed to be a meeting with Joaquín Guzmán López, son of “El Chapo” Guzmán, detained in the United States, and political leaders of the state of Sinaloa, Among them were Hector Cuen – murdered on the day of Zambada’s arrest – and Governor Ruben Rocha.
“As I was walking towards the meeting area, I saw Hector Cuen (and) Joaquin Guzman Lopez, who I have known since I was a child, and he gestured for me to follow him,” Zambada said. “As soon as I set foot inside that room, they ambushed me,” he added.
Continuing with his testimony, “El Mayo” explained that a group of armed men “assaulted” him, threw him to the ground and placed a dark-colored hood over his head. The Sinaloa state government did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for information on the case.
“They tied me up and handcuffed me, and then forced me into the back of a pickup truck. During this entire ordeal, I was subjected to physical abuse, which caused significant injuries to my back, knee and wrists,” he added. “They then took me to a landing strip about 20 or 25 minutes away, where they forced me onto a private plane,” he said.
“Joaquin removed the hood from my head and tied me to the seat with cable ties. There was no one else on the plane except Joaquin, the pilot and me,” he clarified when referring to the day of the events that occurred at the end of last month.
Almost a week after the high-profile arrest, lawyer José Luis González, linked to the Guzmán family, He assured in several statements to the press that the arrest of both the son of “El Chapo”, Joaquín Guzmán López, and that of “El Mayo” Zambada was the result of years of negotiations. between drug traffickers and the United States Government.
The day before, the United States ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, said that “El Chapo’s” son had voluntarily surrendered to U.S. authorities and that “the evidence so far” was that “El Mayo” had been taken to that country against his will. He also said that there were no officials from that country during the flight.
In the letter, signed at the end by “Ismael Mayo Zambada” the drug trafficker who faces several charges in the United States related to drug trafficking and money laundering, among others, He asked the governments of both Mexico and the United States to be “transparent” and to “provide the truth about my kidnapping in the United States.”
“The idea that I surrendered or cooperated voluntarily is completely and unequivocally false,” He clarified: “I was brought to this country (the United States) by force and under duress, without my consent and against my will,” he said.
