El Mayo Zambada had been a US fugitive for decades. He's now claiming he was kidnapped, zip-tied, battered, hooded and flown across the border at the hands of a son of his cartel partner, the infamous drug lord El Chapo.
Culiacan, Mexico, is 2,200 miles from Chicago. It is the supply center for 80% of Chicago's cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and methamphetamine's according to U.S. drug agents, and is also the headquarters of the Sinaloa cartel which has long been run by billionaire El Chapo, who is now in prison for life.
Chapo's partner and cartel co-founder El Mayo Zambada has overseen decades of deadly cartel clashes, a community's heartache, and even the army is unable to curb the cartel carnage.
On July 25 at a Culiacan ranch, El Mayo arrived with an armed security detail and drove to meet El Chapo's son, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, and some Mexican politicians. According to a new jailhouse statement from El Mayo, he was ambushed, assaulted, knocked to the ground, and a dark colored hood was pulled over his head.
They "tied me up," he claims and "handcuffed me."
El Mayo said his bodyguards are missing and politician Hector Cuen was gunned down.
Mayo claims to have been driven across the Mexican city to a remote airstrip and put on a plane that landed a couple of hours later in Texas, greeted by FBI agents.
Mexico's president said it could have been a U.S. Justice Department operation. He's demanding U.S. transparency and is threatening treason charges against Mexico citizens who helped in the scheme.
El Chapo's son Joaquin Guzman Lopez's attorney is digging in on what he said in Chicago where his client is being held.
Lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman told the I-Team El Mayo seems to be auditioning as a snitch for the American government against his friends, and cites Mayo's 50-year record of murder, drug dealing and public corruption.
Even though the attorney for El Chapo's son insists he has no deal with prosecutors, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar said the drug lord's son turned in his dad's partner.
Ambassador Salazar said El Mayo was hustled out of Mexico on that plane against his will, but that no American assets were involved in the operation.