Mexican president calls for transparency from US on capture of Sinaloa cartel leader

By Jorge Antonio Rocha

MEXICO CITY (AA) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Friday urged US authorities to provide a detailed report of the operation that led to the capture of Sinaloa cartel leader Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada.

"It is not just a matter of general statements; there must be transparency," said Lopez Obrador during a daily press briefing, a day after US authorities announced that Zambada and the son of his ex-partner Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, were apprehended.

Zambada is a prolific and powerful underworld boss and leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico's most influential drug cartels.

The Sinaloa Cartel has a widespread drug trafficking network around the globe and is considered the leading supplier of fentanyl to the US, which has caused hundreds of thousands of overdose deaths.

The Mexican president said that the arrest was carried out without the knowledge of the Mexican government. Lopez Obrador was informed of the arrest by the US embassy moments after the US agencies arrested Zambada.

While no Mexican agencies were involved in the operation to arrest Zambada, Lopez Obrador hailed the arrest as a testimony to the good relations between the neighboring countries.

"I think it is a sign that there is a joint effort, even though in this specific case, neither the Secretary of Defense nor the Navy participated," he said.

Also, Lopez Obrador also acknowledged the profound fentanyl epidemic plaguing the US, which, according to some sources, has taken the lives of over 100,000 Americans. The Mexican President said that while the arrest marks good progress in hindering drug trafficking, he said that it is not enough to solve drug consumption in the US.

"It is progress, without a doubt, but that is not all without undermining the actions that US agencies took ... solving the problem of drug consumption by addressing the causes because if consumption continues, the problem will not be solved completely," he said.

Lopez Obrador said that if government policy is not focused on attending to the root causes of drug consumption, other people will take over the place of the arrested criminals.