How a U.S. drug arrest made Mexico more violent

The capture of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada has ignited an all-out battle for control of the Sinaloa cartel, one of the world’s most famous drug gangs.

8 min
Soldiers on Oct. 22 arrive at a scene in Culiacan, Mexico, where a key mid-level operator for Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada was captured by the military following a fierce battle that left 19 civilians dead. (Luis Antonio Rojas for The Washington Post)
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CULIACAN, Mexico — When a Mexican drug lord was bundled aboard a small Beechcraft jet and secretly flown to the United States in July, the U.S. government called it a major blow to fentanyl traffickers.

“We should be celebrating what happened in Sinaloa,” U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar said recently.

But the capture of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada has ignited an all-out battle for control of the Sinaloa cartel, one of the world’s most famous drug gangs. Homicides have exploded in Sinaloa state, with around 400 people killed in the last two months, quadruple the number during the same period last year. The capital, Culiacan, has become a ghost town at night, its residents locked indoors as gunmen throw up flaming barricades and trade shots in the streets.