Notorious Mexican drug lord 'El Mayo' and El Chapo's son arrested in Texas

• Both individuals were detained after landing in El Paso on private jet.
• They face charges for funneling drugs, including fentanyl to US.
• Arrests were part of joint operation by FBI and HSI agencies.
  

Two prominent figures in Mexico's drug trade, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and the son of his ex-partner, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, were arrested on Thursday in El Paso, Texas.

The arrests were made in a major coup for United States authorities that may also reshape the Mexican criminal landscape, Reuters reported.

Zambada, a key player in Mexico's drug trafficking history and co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel with El Chapo, was apprehended alongside El Chapo's son, Joaquin Guzman Lopez.

Both individuals face multiple charges in the US for funneling huge quantities of drugs to US streets, including fentanyl, which has surged to become the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45.

El Chapo was extradited to the US in 2017 and is serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison.

Zambada, who is believed to be in his 70s, and Guzman Lopez, who is in his 30s, were detained after landing in a private plane in the El Paso area, two US officials told Reuters.

Guzman Lopez is one of four sons of El Chapo — known as Los Chapitos, or Little Chapos — who inherited their father's faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. His brother, Ovidio Guzman, was arrested last year and extradited to the US.

In recent years, the Sinaloa Cartel has become the biggest target for US authorities, who have accused the crime syndicate of being the biggest supplier of fentanyl to the US.

The US authorities had a $15 million reward for Zambada's capture, while Guzman Lopez had a $5 million bounty on his head.

The Sinaloa cartel traffics drugs to more than 50 countries around the globe and is one of two most powerful organized crime groups in Mexico, according to US authorities.

Their arrests were part of a joint operation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agencies, HSI said in a statement.

US authorities have over the past year launched fresh indictments against Zambada and Guzman's sons on new charges in the United States that focus on fentanyl smuggling, as well as the flow of precursor chemicals to the illicit labs operated by their crime syndicate.

Over decades, the cartel has set up sophisticated supply chains to move drugs across the globe and to source heavily regulated chemicals to their home base in Sinaloa.