Incredible story of how El Chapo’s son set up drug lord El Mayo with very sneaky trick that saw him handed in to cops in Texas

Joaquín Guzmán López was apparently tired of having a target on his back as a member of Los Chapitos – or Little Chapos. The sibling family took over half of the Sinaloa Cartel drug empire after their father, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, was arrested and later extradited to the United States.

On Thursday, El Chapo found a one-way ticket to escape his extravagant, yet seductive, lifestyle when he boarded a small plane with fugitive drug cartel co-founder Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada and had him arrested in El Paso, Texas, DailyMail.com has learned.

DailyMail.com confirmed through a former Justice Department official that El Mayo flew to Mexico City with Guzmán López to look at potential properties he wanted to buy.

However, the plane changed its flight path and flew north into US airspace before landing in El Paso, where officers were waiting for it.

Zambada appeared in federal court in El Paso on Friday morning and entered a not guilty plea to a series of drug trafficking charges, court documents show.

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who co-founded the Sinaloa Cartel with Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, has never been arrested by Mexican authorities. He was arrested Thursday in El Paso, Texas, and faces a series of charges for drug trafficking and organized crime in the U.S.

The pair were arrested in El Paso, Texas, after they got off a private jet that was taking El Mayo to Mexico City to view properties.

Joaquín Guzmán López was indicted in 2018 by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York along with his brother Ovidio Guzmán López for allegedly conspiring to distribute cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine in the United States.

Ray Donovan, a retired Drug Enforcement Administration agent and operations director who helped arrest El Chapo, told DailyMail.com on Friday that it was a smart move for Joaquín Guzmán López to turn himself in.

“It means it was a very intelligent move on his part. Here he is being indicted by the U.S. government. There’s a lot of violence in Mexico. Possibly, you know, a change of administration with (President-elect Claudia) Sheinbaum in Mexico. Possibly a change of administration in the United States,” Donovan said.[There is] “There’s a lot of rhetoric going on,” he added. “It’s not a bad move if you’re him.”

“You want a peaceful life, and you don’t want to be a part of this anymore? Then it’s actually a very intelligent move on his part.”

Donovan suspects that the fear of being killed at any moment drove Joaquín Guzmán López to betray Zambada, after years of internal turmoil.

“It’s too much pressure, it’s too much burden, and they’re afraid of death all the time,” he said. “They’re afraid of being killed. Listen, even the top people are afraid of being killed, no matter how powerful they are.”

Joaquín Guzmán López is escorted by US federal agents after his surrender

Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was captured in Mexico in 2016 and extradited in 2017 (seen here). He was convicted in a New York federal court in 2019 on multiple drug trafficking charges and is serving a life sentence at ADX Florence, a super-maximum security prison in Colorado

Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada founded the Sinaloa Cartel with Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán and was never arrested

Joaquin’s brother Ovidio Guzmán López was also arrested in Mexico in September 2023 and extradited to the US, where he faces his own long list of charges

Donovan was behind an operation to capture El Mayo in 2014, after El Chapo escaped from prison in a Hollywood-style move, but El Mayo managed to outsmart them.

“We knew what was going on with him. We knew where he was, and Mayo was smart,” Donovan recalled. “He had intelligence that there was an operation going on, and he ran to the mountains. Even though Chapo had intelligence, he stayed in Culiacán. So I always use that as a kind of indicator of how smart Mayo was. Mayo was sharp and he didn’t hang around. He wasn’t rude. The older he got, the more businesslike he became.”

It is unlikely that Joaquín Guzmán López’s half-brothers, Iván Guzmán Salazar and Jesús Guzmán Salazar, will follow his steps and voluntarily surrender to US authorities.

Of the four siblings, Donovan described Joaquín Guzmán López as the one who was “the least guilty,” because he only looked up to his brothers and meddled in the family affairs.

“Listen, Joaquin, was he a drug dealer? Yeah,” Donovan said. “But was he really the main guy? No, he was never the main guy. He was more of a follower than a leader. Ovidio was the big producer of Fentanyl. Iván ran the cartel. (Jesús) had the contacts in Colombia.

‘He (Joaquín Guzmán López) had to weigh the pros and cons and I think he made a smart decision. He wants a different life. This is it.’

Iván Guzmán Salazar (pictured) is one of El Chapo’s sons who now runs half of the Sinaloa Cartel. The DEA is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction

The Drug Enforcement Administration is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Jesús Guzmán Salazar

Donovan explained that Joaquín Guzmán López’s surrender means he intended to continue with the cartel. Ovidio Guzmán López was captured in Mexico in September 2023 and is facing drug trafficking and money laundering charges in Chicago.

“It’s a show of good faith to the government, right?” he said. “It’s not a national surrender, it’s an international surrender, right? So good faith to the United States, that’s one thing. The second thing is that Mayo Zambada has been captured. That’s a big, big advantage. I see it as a well-played move.”

Donovan sees Ivan Guzman Salazar working with Zambada’s son, Ismael ‘El Mayito Flaco’ Zambada Sicairos, who is not said to be bloodthirsty.

“He’s not the type of guy who’s bold and willing to fight and contend for power,” Donovan said. “So I believe that Ivan Guzman will consolidate control of the cartel.”