The Fiscal\u00eda General de la Rep\u00fablica (FGR) revealed that it took almost a year after the expulsion of Mauro Alberto N\u00fa\u00f1ez Ojeda, known as \u2018El Jando\u2019, to find evidence linking him to the kidnapping of Ismael \u2018El Mayo\u2019 Zambada, co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel. <\/p>\n
\u2018El Jando\u2019 was extradited to the United States in August 2025 alongside 25 other high-profile drug traffickers under the National Security Law. Omar Garc\u00eda Harfuch, Mexico\u2019s Secretary of Security, emphasized that this group posed a serious threat by intimidating judges and police officers even from prison. <\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t until June 2026 that Ernestina Godoy, the current head of the FGR, and her team uncovered voice and fingerprint matches connecting \u2018El Jando\u2019 to the June 26, 2024, flight that transported Ismael \u2018N\u2019 and Joaqu\u00edn \u2018N\u2019 from Culiac\u00e1n, Sinaloa, to New Mexico, USA. This discovery came through a review of investigation files, according to an official FGR statement. <\/p>\n
Despite \u2018El Jando\u2019 now being in U.S. custody\u2014where he faces the possibility of a life sentence\u2014the FGR insists that investigations in Mexico remain active. The agency retains recordings, expert reports, interviews, and other evidence and can request further legal cooperation with U.S. authorities. <\/p>\n
The story behind the kidnapping claim is complex. \u2018El Mayo\u2019 Zambada arrived in the U.S. in July 2024 and later sent a letter claiming he was kidnapped by Joaqu\u00edn Guzm\u00e1n L\u00f3pez, \u2018El G\u00fcero\u2019, son of the infamous \u2018El Chapo\u2019 Guzm\u00e1n. According to Zambada, \u2018El G\u00fcero\u2019 lured him to a meeting at a ranch outside Culiac\u00e1n. <\/p>\n
\u2018El Jando\u2019 was arrested in August 2025 after an attack on Army and National Guard forces in Jes\u00fas Mar\u00eda, Culiac\u00e1n. Upon arrest, he initially gave a false identity, but forensic analysis confirmed who he really was. The FGR describes him as a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel, linked to multiple unspecified crimes. When questioned, he denied involvement in the criminal organization. <\/p>\n
On July 14, 2026, during the morning press conference, Secretary Garc\u00eda Harfuch defended the decision to expel \u2018El Jando\u2019 and other traffickers from Mexico, citing the severe danger they posed domestically. He highlighted that these individuals had repeatedly obstructed extraditions and were responsible for over 17 attacks on public servants, including threats against prosecutors and judges, as well as corruption attempts. <\/p>\n
Garc\u00eda Harfuch also noted that \u2018El Jando\u2019 and his associates maintained control over organized crime groups from behind bars, orchestrating murders and extortion schemes. \u201cThese were the criteria considered to remove them from our country,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
This case underscores the ongoing challenges Mexico faces in dismantling powerful criminal networks and the importance of cross-border cooperation in justice and security efforts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Fiscal\u00eda General de la Rep\u00fablica (FGR) revealed that it took almost a year after the expulsion of Mauro Alberto N\u00fa\u00f1ez Ojeda, known as \u2018El Jando\u2019, to find evidence linking him to the kidnapping of Ismael \u2018El Mayo\u2019 Zambada, co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel. \u2018El Jando\u2019 was extradited to the United States in August 2025 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nacional"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3622"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3622\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3623,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3622\/revisions\/3623"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}