Mexico City [Mexico], August 11: The co-founder of the Sinaloa drug cartel says he was kidnapped in Mexico and delivered into United States custody against his will, in the latest chapter of a dramatic case that has sparked global attention.
"I was ambushed," Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada said in a statement released through his lawyer on Saturday that he said aimed to clear up the rumours and misinformation surrounding his capture last month.
US authorities have said that Zambada was detained on July 25 along with Joaquin Guzman Lopez, one of the sons of another co-founder of the cartel, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.
They were arrested after landing in El Paso, Texas, on a private plane.
On Friday, Zambada's lawyer said Guzman Lopez and six men in military uniforms "forcibly kidnapped" his client near the Sinaloa state capital of Culiacan and flew him to the US against his will.
But the Guzman family lawyer has denied that a kidnapping took place, instead calling it a voluntary surrender after extended negotiations.
In his statement on Saturday, Zambada said he felt it was important that the truth come out about his arrest, citing what he said were "false stories" about his "abduction".
He explained that Guzman Lopez had invited him to a meeting at a ranch just outside of Culiacan on July 25. There, he described how he greeted several people before spotting Guzman Lopez, whom he said he has known "since he was a young boy".
"He gestured for me to follow him," Zambada said in his statement, adding that, "trusting" those involved, he followed "without hesitation".
"I was led into another room which was dark. As soon as I set foot inside of that room, I was ambushed," Zambada continued.
He said a group of men then assaulted him, knocked him to the ground and placed a dark-coloured hood over his head.
"They tied me up and handcuffed me, then forced me into the bed of a pick-up truck." Zambada said he suffered "significant injuries" to his back, knee and wrists during the incident and was later driven to a nearby landing strip and "forced onto a private plane".
On the plane, he said Guzman Lopez removed his hood and "bound" him with zip ties to the seat. "No one else was aboard the plane except Joaquin, the pilot, and myself." Zambada said they then flew directly to El Paso, where US federal agents took him into custody on the tarmac.
Source: Qatar Tribune
