Mexican Authorities Detain Daughter of Sinaloa Cartel Co-Founder Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada in Sinaloa; Release Her Later

Mexican Navy forces and the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection detained Mónica Zambada Niebla, the daughter of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel and longtime partner of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.

Authorities were able to locate her through a series of operations carried out across different parts of the state. During one of them, federal forces were attacked after identifying a property linked to the La Mayiza faction, one of the Sinaloa cartel groups that has been fighting for control in the region since September 2024.

The confrontation left 11 alleged members of La Mayiza dead, while authorities seized high-powered weapons and tactical equipment.

In a statement posted on social media, the Navy said the woman was released after determining she had no ties to criminal activity and no outstanding warrants, and that she was returned to her family in accordance with legal protocols.

Despite the Mexican government clearing Mónica Zambada of any criminal involvement, a document from the U.S. Treasury Department places her as part of a network allegedly used by her father, El Mayo Zambada, to launder money from drug trafficking.

In sanctions announced more than 10 years ago, the document links one of Mónica Zambada's companies, along with other women in the family, to a network allegedly tied to El Mayo Zambada's drug trafficking operations.

"It is true that in Mexico there is no criminal case as such, there are no charges against her, but in the United States there are. She appears in the Office of Foreign Assets Control," security analyst David Saucedo told Infobae México. "They published some time ago an organizational chart where she appears as a front person and as part of the financial structure used for money laundering."

Mexico's top security official, Omar García Harfuch, emphasized that Mónica Zambada did not have an arrest warrant in either Mexico or the United States, and that her 2007 designation by the OFAC is administrative in nature, even though the sanctions remain in effect.

"It is an administrative process in which individuals are designated for suspicious or illicit operations. However, in the past 20 years, no arrest warrant has been obtained in either the United States or Mexico against this person," Harfuch said, as noted by Noroeste.

According to reports compiled by Infobae México, the primary target of the operation that left 11 suspected La Mayiza members dead was an individual identified as Joel Enrique "S," also known as "El 19."

Reports indicate that El 19 was part of a criminal structure led by Ismael Zambada Sicairos, the son of El Mayo Zambada and the leader of La Mayiza.