Mexico probes disappearance of arrested drug lord’s bodyguards

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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican prosecutors said on Wednesday they were investigating the disappearance of two bodyguards the same day as last month’s dramatic U.S. arrest of one of the founders of the infamous Sinaloa Cartel, alongside the son of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who co-founded the cartel with Guzman, said he was kidnapped by the son of his former partner and armed men in what he described as an ambush and then taken on a plane to the United States, where they were then arrested.

In a letter shared by his lawyer, Zambada said he had been accompanied to the meeting with Guzman’s son by Jose Heras, the head of Sinaloa state’s judicial police, and Rodolfo Chaidez, a “long-time member” of his security team.

The Guzman family lawyer said the arrest was a voluntary surrender following years of negotiations.

Sinaloa state prosecutor Sara Quinonez told reporters that both Heras and Chaidez, a former state investigative agent, had been reported missing by their families.

She said that Heras had been suspended from his post and if found alive, would be arrested. Heras had been on vacation since July 15 and his family said he was going to visit a relative the day he disappeared, she said.

A source from the prosecutor’s office told Reuters Chaidez had been an active member of the security forces for several years, working in investigation, but did not share more details.

Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said he was not aware of how Zambada was arrested on July 25 and has rebuked the U.S. government for lack of transparency.

The U.S. embassy, meanwhile, has said that the flight that carried Zambada and Joaquin Guzman Lopez out of Mexico to an airstrip near El Paso, Texas, operated without U.S. resources and its flight plan was not shared with U.S. authorities.

Both Zambada and Guzman Lopez have pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges in a U.S. court.

Lopez Obrador has urged prosecutors to investigate the full facts of the arrest, seen as one of biggest blows to Mexican drug trafficking in recent years.

Mexico’s president however argues the arrest of major crime bosses will not stop the United States’ growing consumption of fentanyl and the thousands of deaths it continues to cause.

(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Marguerita Choy)