Key players in Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel, including sons of the two reputed cartel leaders, have been indicted on charges they smuggled massive amounts of cocaine, methamphetamine and other drugs into the United States, U.S. officials announced Friday, after a three-year investigation.
Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, 64, and two of his sons, Ismael “Mayito Flaco” Zambada Sicairos, 32, and Ismael “Mayito Gordo” Zambada Imperial, 30, were named in 14 indictments unsealed Friday.
They were charged along with Ivan Archivaldo “Chapito” Guzman Salazar, 31, the son of reputed cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who was arrested in Mexico last year.
The men are accused of carrying out a continuing criminal enterprise spanning from 2005 to 2014.
“These were family members and people who were being groomed to take over all future operations of the cartel and those are significant leadership voids that aren’t going to be easily filled,” said U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Special-Agent-in-Charge William Sherman.
The case began in 2011 as an investigation into distribution cells in National City and Chula Vista. It soon grew into a much larger investigation involving the Drug Enforcement Administration and drug busts as far away as Delaware and Georgia.
Dubbed “Operation Narco-Polo,” the investigation involved more than 200 court-authorized wire taps.
Local
So far, 117 people have been charged in the investigation, including 60 in the 14 indictments that were unsealed Friday.
Investigators uncovered groups importing methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and marijuana into San Diego and distributing the drugs across Southern California and the U.S. as well as to other countries.
This includes several high profile busts, including a large tunnel discovered near the Otay Mesa border crossing in 2013.
U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy said the case has directly impacted the amount of drugs available on the streets. One of the cells responsible for supplying up to one-third of the methamphetamine being sold in the North County, she said.
“These are the drugs that are getting into communities in San Diego County and all across the nation,” Duffy said. “These are the drugs that are in our neighborhoods. These are the drugs that our youth are taking.”
The accused used any means of transportation to move shipments ranging from airplanes to tractor trucks and railcars to submersibles, prosecutors say.
As a result of the investigation, agents captured Jose Rodrigo “El Chino Antrax” Arechia Gamboa, who is considered to be the violent leader of the cartel’s security forces. He was arrested in the Netherlands and extradited to the U.S. in July. He's currently awaiting trial in San Diego.
A third son of “El Mayo," Serafin Zamabada-Ortiz, is also in custody in San Diego. He faces 10 years to life when he’s sentenced on drug trafficking charges in May 2015.
