El Mayo Seeks Medical Transfer to Avoid Supermax; US Renews Bounties on Fugitive Chapitos; Colombia Coca Cultivation Hits Record Highs

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García is seeking to avoid the same supermax fate as his former partner Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, while the United States has renewed multi-million-dollar bounties on the two remaining fugitive Chapitos brothers. Meanwhile, new United Nations data reveals coca cultivation in Colombia has expanded to historic levels, posing an immediate challenge for the incoming administration’s eradication agenda.

El Mayo Requests Medical Facility Over Supermax Confinement

Co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García, has informed a U.S. federal court that he will not contest the mandatory life sentence he faces. However, his legal team has petitioned the judge to recommend placement in a federal medical facility rather than the ADX Florence supermax prison currently holding Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. The request cites Zambada’s advanced age and declining health. This legal maneuver unfolds as a violent internecine conflict between Zambada’s loyalists and the Chapitos—El Chapo’s sons—continues to destabilize Sinaloa state.

Washington Intensifies Pressure on Remaining Chapitos

The United States has reaffirmed rewards of up to $10 million each for information leading to the capture of Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, the two remaining fugitive sons of El Chapo. Homeland Security Investigations highlighted the progress in a recent statement—”Two down and two to go”—referencing the captures of Ovidio Guzmán López in 2023 and Joaquín Guzmán López in 2024. The renewed focus coincides with expanded U.S. prosecutions targeting Mexican officials allegedly complicit in protecting the brothers, signaling a strategic shift toward dismantling the network’s political shielding.

Colombia’s Coca Surge Tests Incoming Eradication Pledges

Coca cultivation in Colombia rose 3.5% in 2024 to surpass 260,000 hectares, according to a new United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report. Roughly half of this acreage is concentrated in just ten municipalities across four departments, offering President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella—who assumes office in August—distinct geographic targets for the aerial eradication campaign he championed during his candidacy. However, analysts warn that similar hardline approaches have historically failed to produce lasting reductions, as trafficking organizations consistently adapt cultivation and production methods to evade enforcement.

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