Source: Eyepix Group / Getty
Days after it was reported that U.S. authorities apprehended two of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel top bosses (Joaquín Guzmán López and Ismael Zambada García), details about the arrest are coming to light, and they are simply raising more questions than answers.
According to the New York Times, it seems like El Chapo’s son, Joaquín Guzmán López, actually kidnapped and forced his underling Ismael Zambada García to accompany him on the ill-fated (for them) flight from Mexico to Texas, where authorities were waiting for them to touch down before putting both men into custody. Why López would take such action is the million dollar question, especially since Garcia had been on the run for quite some time.
Still, López did what he did and apparently he tricked Garcia into a meeting that ended up being his last moments in Mexico.
The New York Times reports:
Mr. Zambada García, one of his country’s most wanted men, had come down from a hide-out in the mountains last week and was ambushed in the Mexican city of Culiacán at what he thought would be a friendly meeting with Mr. Guzmán López, according to three federal law enforcement officials who spoke anonymously to discuss sensitive details of the case. Mr. Guzmán López then forcibly flew Mr. Zambada García in a Beechcraft King Air turboprop across the border, where he was apprehended by U.S. federal agents, the officials said.
That version of events echoed one that was recently offered by Mr. Zambada García’s lawyer, who told The New York Times and other news outlets that his client had not been tricked into boarding the plane, but in fact had been abducted. Mr. Guzmán López, the lawyer said, waylaid Mr. Zambada García with a group of henchmen who handcuffed him, stuck a bag over his head and muscled him into a car and then on to the plane, where he remained bound throughout the flight.
Did El Chapo’s son have a personal grudge with Lopez or something? Though he had apparently been negotiating his own surrender to U.S. authorities for quite some time, why would he take down one of his top bosses with him? Would such a move guarantee him a lighter prison sentence? And did authorities know that Garcia would be brought against his will?
Though Garcia’s lawyer says that his client never intended on surrendering himself to authorities, what’s done is done and that particular defense won’t be leading to him regaining his freedom anytime soon.
Legal experts say that even if Mr. Zambada García arrived in the United States under physical duress, it may have no effect on the criminal charges he is facing. There is longstanding legal precedent allowing prosecutors to pursue cases against defendants who were brought to the United States against their will, the experts said.
“U.S. law is quite clear that even kidnappings that violate extradition treaties don’t provide a basis for relief for the defendant,” said Daniel Richman, a former federal prosecutor and professor at Columbia Law School.
Still, it seems like that’s the only hand Garcia has to play not only in a court of law, but also in a court of public opinion.
El Chapo must be in his prison cell somewhere just shaking his head.
What do y’all think about this latest twist in this Narcos novela? Let us know in the comments section below.
