The US has agreed to free rival narc bosses Vicente Zambada and Eduardo Arellano Felix in exchange for insider information about the Mexican underworld
The eldest son of the Sinaloa cartel chief has been freed from a US prison for cooperating with the authorities, but he remains the heir apparent to one of the world’s most powerful criminal groups
Zambada was Sinaloa cartel’s chief accountant for 15 years
Speculation that ‘El Rey’ may be in witness protection
A person holds a face mask, which depicts Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Jesús ‘El Rey’ Zambada gave evidence against the drug lord at his trial in New York. Photograph: Francisco Guasco/EPA
A person holds a face mask, which depicts Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Jesús ‘El Rey’ Zambada gave evidence against the drug lord at his trial in New York. Photograph: Francisco Guasco/EPA
Staffandagences
Wed 12 May 2021 17.09 EDT
Last modified on Wed 12 May 2021 17.10 EDT
News Héctor Luis Palma, seen during his deportation to Mexico in 2016, was an early contemporary of El Chapo Guzmán.
Release of 3 narcos from jail could precipitate more violence: analysts Two were senior bosses in the Sinaloa Cartel, the third was with the Arellano Félix Cartel in Tijuana
Published on Wednesday, May 5, 2021
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Three high-profile drug traffickers are in the process of being released from jail in the United States and Mexico, which analysts fear could inflame territorial disputes and trigger more violence.
Vicente Zambada Niebla, 46, and Eduardo Arellano Félix, 64, are being released from U.S. penitentiaries while Héctor Luis Palma Salazar, 80, was acquitted of his only standing charge last weekend as Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office could not prove he still had links to drug trafficking. The government has requested 48 hours to search for any pending charges.
Damaso Lopez Nunez, 55, testified against Joaquin El Chapo Guzman at trial
A former prison director, he was Guzman s right-hand man
After Guzman s 2016 arrest, he battled Guzman s sons for control of the cartel
Known as El Licenciado , for having a degree, he was sentenced to life in 2018
Lopez Nunez was arrested in Mexico City in May 2017 and extradited to U.S.
He had been cooperating with authorities in return for a reduced sentence
On Wednesday it was reported he would be freed decades early, in 2032
The news came three days after Guzman s wife was detained by U.S. authorities
At Guzman s trial he testified she was deeply involved in Guzman s trafficking