Mexico Probes 2024 Zambada Capture as FBI Plaque Contradicts US Denials

3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 9

Mexico opened an investigation into whether the US lied about its role in Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García’s 2024 capture and transfer, framing the issue as a possible breach of sovereignty.
A museum plaque beside the plane used in the operation says two FBI agents carried out the secret arrest of two fugitives, reinforcing local media reports that contradicted longstanding US denials.
Former ambassador Ken Salazar again said, “It was not our plane, not our pilot, and not our operation,” even as Mexico’s attorney general alleged possible violations of Mexican and international law and false diplomatic statements.
The dispute centers on July 2024, when Zambada was lured onto a small plane in Mexico by Joaquín Guzmán López and flown to Texas, where US authorities arrested both men.
The row lands amid already fraught US-Mexico security ties, with Mexican officials also citing an April report that CIA agents joined a northern Mexico drug-lab raid without federal approval.