The letter from ‘El Mayo’ Zambada that widens the scandal in Mexico: A murder, a capture and a secret meeting

Two pages were enough for Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada to blow the official version of his capture in the United States out of the water and, in the process, shake up Sinaloa’s political chessboard. El Mayo’s letter, released by his lawyer Frank Perez on Saturday, forced Governor Rubén Rocha Moya, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum to take a stand just hours after its publication. At the center of the scandal is the murder of Héctor Melesio Cuén, Rocha’s political rival, made public on the same day as the arrest of the 76-year-old drug lord and Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. Zambada claims that he was going to meet with both men on the day of his surprise arrest, that the Sinaloa Cartel leadership was going to settle a conflict at the state’s main public university, and that one of his bodyguards was a commander in the state Judicial Police. His uncorroborated statements have sparked controversy over the influence of organized crime in Mexico’s public affairs and have provided a first warning of the scope of a potential deal between El Mayo and U.S. authorities.

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