The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, questioned this Tuesday the United States version of the capture of drug trafficker Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada and asked "who lied?", after a report revived doubts about the participation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the operation.

Sheinbaum recalled that the then US ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, assured in 2024 that no US agency participated in the operation, but pointed out that a recent report maintains that the FBI attributes the operation through which Zambada was transferred to US territory to that agency.

The president stated that this contradiction motivated the Mexican Government to request new information about the case, pointing out that "it is not understood why this plane is presented as an operation by a United States agency" when the official US version had been different.

"Who is lying? Who lied? Did Ambassador Ken Salazar lie?" Sheinbaum said in a daily press conference.

The Mexican leader maintained that, if this participation was confirmed without the knowledge of the Government of Mexico, international treaties, the Mexican Constitution and the National Security Law could have been violated.

He added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked the Attorney General's Office to review whether there was any crime in the capture process and request information directly from the FBI, in addition to reporting on the investigations related to the case.

And he stated that his Government “will never” make “agreements with any member or with any organized crime organization, ever.”

The controversy resurfaced after a report published last week indicated that the aircraft used to transport Zambada is part of an FBI exhibition in a museum in New Mexico (southern United States), a decision that fueled doubts about the role of US authorities in the operation.

The capture of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada on July 25, 2024 caused a diplomatic crisis between Mexico and the United States, after Mexican authorities assured that they were not previously notified about the operation that ended the historical leader of the Sinaloa Cartel in US territory.

Since then, the Mexican Government has requested information from Washington about the circumstances of the arrest, while Zambada maintains that he was kidnapped by Joaquín Guzmán López, son of 'El Chapo' Guzmán and transferred against his will to the United States, a version different from that initially presented by the US authorities. EFE