Recently, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, one of the world’s most powerful drug lords and leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, was arrested by U.S. federal agents near El Paso. The Sinaloa cartel is considered one of the largest and most powerful drug trafficking organization in the Western Hemisphere, generating billions of dollars annually by smuggling drugs into the U.S. and around the globe.

Zambada’s arrest, alongside that of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s son, marks a significant victory in the battle against fentanyl, as the Sinaloa cartel is believed to be the largest supplier of drugs to the U.S., according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

However, this triumph has brought Mexico’s lack of cooperation into focus. Instead of celebrating the capture of two major traffickers responsible for killing about 70,000 Americans a year with fentanyl—the deadliest drug threat the U.S. has ever faced—the Mexican government was quick to deny its involvement and announce it had no role in the capture. And Mexico demanded an explanation from the US.

That’s right—rather than thanking the U.S. for catching two leaders of one of Mexico’s most feared criminal drugs mafias, both of whom had evaded law enforcement for decades, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) instead took to his morning press conference to criticize U.S. authorities for keeping his government in the dark about the operation, and to demand transparency from the U.S. about the capture. He later boasted that Mexico had done nothing to pursue Zambada—despite there being a $15 million reward for us capture from U.S. authorities—“to ensure there was no violence.”

It’s no secret that security cooperation between Mexico and the United States has drastically deteriorated under AMLO, but let’s recap why the U.S. may be hesitant to involve Mexico in the fight against criminal cartels and trafficking:

  • In April 2023, AMLO lashed out at the U.S. for an investigation into the Sinaloa cartel, calling it “abusive, arrogant interference that should not be accepted under any circumstances.”
  • AMLO regularly accuses U.S. officials of overstepping their authority on Mexican soil, and in April 2023, he declared he would use Mexican armed forces to defend trafficking cartels against American action.
  • In October 2019, when Mexican soldiers captured El Chapo’s son, Ovidio Guzmán, AMLO personally intervened and ordered his release back to the cartel, saying “You cannot fight fire with fire.”
  • In October 2020, Former Mexican Defense Minister Salvador Cienfuegos was arrested at LAX Airport on drug trafficking charges. After labeling the huge body of evidence collected by U.S. agents “garbage,” AMLO demanded Cienfuegos’ return, which the U.S. reluctantly agreed to, citing foreign policy considerations. Upon his return, Mexico immediately dropped all charges against Cienfuegos.
  • After Cienfuegos’ release, as retaliation for American anti-cartel and anti-corruption efforts, Mexico passed laws severely restricting the operations of foreign agents, mainly targeting the DEA, requiring officials to report all interactions with them.
  • In another move to reduce U.S.-Mexico cooperation, in April 2022, AMLO shut down a long-standing anti-narcotics unit working with the DEA.
  • AMLO has made many makes gestures of sympathy toward drug lords and refuses to condemn cartels in public, claiming cartels are “respectful” and behave better than white collar criminals, welcoming proposals for a “social pact” with cartels, and dismissing talks of cartel violence as “propaganda.”

It’s safe to say there is no shortage of incidents that have strained U.S.-Mexico relations, and there are ample reasons the U.S cannot trust Mexico to cooperate on security issues. If that evidence is not convincing enough, however, it’s worth mentioning that reporting from ProPublica has very clearly illuminated a collaboration between AMLO and the Sinaloa cartel.

As Americans, we all aspire to a cooperative relationship with Mexico to combat drug trafficking, but we must confront the reality that Mexico has shown us, time and time again, that it is neither a reliable partner nor willing to be. Our policy must be grounded in hard facts, not wishful thinking.

For more information on this topic, please refer to our research paper “Abrazos No Balazos? The Mexican State-Cartel Nexus”.