The Mysterious Flight of El Mayo & Joaquin, What We Know and Don't Know

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

With Contributions from "HEARST" "Enojon" & "Some Dude"

Three days after the arrests of "El Mayo" and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, some details remain murky. While the most unanswered question is if Mayo came into the hands of US authorities willingly or if he was setup or kidnapped still remains unclear. Also unclear is the location that the pair of Sinaloa cartel figures took off in the plane from before landing in New Mexico at the airport in Santa Teresa, just outside of El Paso, Texas.

This has further been confused with statements made the following morning by the Mexican Security Minister and President AMLO, which contradicts local news and witness reports. As well as new footage obtained by Borderland Beat of the plane that the pair arrived on.

Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez told reporters Friday that a small Cessna airplane piloted by an American took off from the Hermosillo airport in Sonora, Mexico just before 8 AM Thursday and landed around 10 AM at the airport in Santa Teresa. Zambada and Guzmán were arrested by US federal agents when the aircraft landed.

But a Justice Department official said the plane was a Beechcraft King Air and that the name of the pilot given by Rosa Rodríguez was incorrect. This claim also matches our research and the multiple angles of video footage and photos of the scene. But, tracking the Beechcraft's registration numbers do not provide us clear answers at all.

A KTSM live feed showed CBP agents and police chaining the propellers of the plane to impound it.

Photos inside of the plane after it was seized showed several bags of snacks, drinks and a OXXO cooler bag with several large zip ties and a roll of duct tape inside. Also what appears to be a plane oxygen mask on one of the seats.

Tracking Flights

Records of flights landing at Dona Ana County International Jetport (DNA) in Santa Teresa only showed one plane coming from Mexico on the same day of the arrests. The tail number N8454Z is an older 5-passenger Cessna 205 registered to owner/pilot Larry Curtis Parker.

Recent flights taken by N8454Z, a Cessna 205.

Screenshot from a Fit Fam El Paso video of the impounded Beechcraft with tail number N287KA.

Photo of the same numbered plane seen in Costa Rica in 2017.

Note the different graphics on the Beechcraft. On the early photos, the tail features a small Beechcraft logo on white with the stripes extending nearly to the tail on the early graphics. The plane at the Santa Teresa airport includes a much larger logo on a dark blue area of the tail and newer graphics on the body of the plane and smaller registration numbers.

Recent flights of N287KA, a Beechcraft King Air.

The flight records possibly show two different planes with the same numbers as the pattern of flights that have occurred in the last few months around the New Mexico and Texas areas are intermixed with local flights around Brazil.

According to Jet Photos of a Beechcraft King Air BE20 (B260) bearing the N287KA tail number had taken numerous flights to Brazil, Colombia and Costa Rica. There have been no photos of the plane posted on the website beyond 2017.  

The photos show a different Beechcraft wrap graphic than that seen at the Santa Teresa airport. Both schemes are common and accurate to Beechcraft planes. However, the plane could have been rewrapped in recent times in the newer Beechcraft graphics.

According to flight records, N287KA is registered to a sole proprietorship O & M Holdings LLC in Ruidoso, New Mexico.

Following questions from the press regarding the differences in the aircraft reported and seen, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador responded during the press conference: "I also asked the same thing, because another plane appears, yes, and this is a five-seat plane, very small, yes…Yes, the other one, it's the one that's been there since yesterday, yes. So what they're telling us is that it wasn't that one, it's the Cessna. They could have changed, right?, on the way, but we'll know all that. We also need to know if only the pilot left, right?, from Hermosillo and three arrived. What happened? Did they get the people off and on, or was the paperwork done by one person and apparently one left, but all three have already left? And all of that is being investigated to see what they have on camera."

And finally, well, at what time did the pilot take off — go ahead, go up, go up, that's fine —? At 7:55 the flight leaves the city of Hermosillo and lands at 10:19 at the Santa Teresa airport. It should be noted that the pilot was on a Cessna 205 type plane.

Here is the flight, the transit from where it left the city of Hermosillo and how it arrived at the Texas Pass, precisely at a nearby airport, which is Santa Teresa, in this place of El Paso.

Mexico's Incorrect Statements Regarding the Pilot

Below is the direct transcript from the morning press conference the day following the arrests.

To clarify the information on this flight plan that you have just shown us, the only information you can specify is that this Cessna-type aircraft was manned by only one person?

ROSA ICELA RODRIGUEZ VELAZQUEZ: That's right.

INTERLOCUTOR: By Jerry Parker, American citizen.

ROSA ICELA RODRÍGUEZ VELÁZQUEZ: Larry, Larry,

INTERVIEWER: Larry Parker. But what happened then with the arrival of these two people, both Ismael Mario 'El Mayo' Zambada García and Joaquín Guzmán López? Did they make a stopover? What information do you have on this?

ROSA ICELA RODRÍGUEZ VELÁZQUEZ: That is the information that is being corroborated by the aeronautical authorities in the country. And it is also a fact that one left here, three arrived there, we will see what the precise information is in this case.

QUESTION: So, Larry Parker just left here, he just left the country?

ROSA ICELA RODRÍGUEZ VELÁZQUEZ: It is information that we still have to corroborate with the videos. So, the investigation is underway in Mexico and also there; but from what I have just informed you, that is, with the precise information provided by Immigration, which is also provided here by the Federal Aeronautics Agency.

We only know that he is a pilot because he has a pilot's license, he does not have any immigration alert nor does he belong to any... He is not a United States authority, he is not a public servant nor is he registered in Mexico as such.

We would also like to inform you that during the course of the night we received the report from the National Institute of Migration, which the president asked us to present here today. The print is a bit small, but I would like you to bring it up further down, where it is very clear that yesterday between 7:10 and 7:31, an agent named Armando Ibarrola appeared before the federal immigration agent at the immigration office in the General Aviation area of ​​the Hermosillo International Airport. 

He presented the flight plan for an aircraft with registration number N8454Z, scheduled to depart at 8:00 in the morning yesterday, and this flight plan indicates departure to the Santa Teresa airport.

The flight plan indicates a pilot on board named Larry Curtis Parker, with the appropriate license. And the manager, along with the pilot, Larry Curtis Parker, also presented his passport, the name is above.

At 7:31 in the morning, all the information in Mexico about the crew member's departure was entered into immigration and the report entered the immigration flow system. The aircraft took off around 8:00 in the morning and the respective coordination was carried out at the Hermosillo airport, where it was seen that the phone call was received and the images from the airport's security cameras are being kept safe.

According to the authorities, the aircraft took off with one crew member, a pilot. And here it should be noted that in the electronic passenger list only the name of the passenger, the pilot, was confirmed, as we mentioned earlier.

Here we have the flight plan, that's it, a flight plan bound for Santa Teresa, in the neighboring country and in the state of Texas.

We say —please go ahead— that we have —the following— we have all the monitoring of the pilot, the entries and exits to Mexico; that he is a visitor, he is not registered as an authority —go ahead— nor does he work at the embassy, ​​he is not considered a private pilot, as a visitor, he is not even considered a migrant, the information so far is only about a pilot.

According to flight data, Parker flew to Sonora on Tuesday, July 23, 2024 and returned to the US on the morning of Thursday, July 25, the same day as the arrests.

According to journalist Peniley Ramírez, Larry Curtis Parker revealed to her that he had nothing to do with the events.

According to the reporter, the American is a businessman owns an asphalt company and lives in New Mexico, but constantly crosses the border in his plane to Hermosillo, Sonora, to hunt and fish in Mexico.

He said that the registration numbers that were released are indeed those of his plane, but the Beechcraft King Air plane that landed in New Mexico, and where El Mayo and Joaquin Guzmán Lopez traveled, is not his.

"One of those trips occurred this Thursday, the same day that, on another plane, Joaquín Guzmán López and Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada boarded a flight to 'El Paso,' where the FBI arrested them," Peniley said.

The man also said that he was in Sonora that day to carry out some paperwork and hold some meetings. His day went by normally until, in the evening, he noticed that the media included his license plate in the data on the capture of 'El Mayo'. His situation worsened after the SSPC report.

“I am an American citizen who enjoys hunting and fishing in Mexico and I have nothing to do with this story. (...) I go to Mexico a lot, I love hunting there and my trips are for pleasure. I am just a businessman who loves Mexico,” he told Peniley. 

He said that since the Mexican government published his name and personal information, he has received calls from journalists asking if he works for the Sinaloa Cartel, which is why he is now afraid to return to Mexico.

Differing Accounts of the Arrests

U.S. officials offered differing accounts of how Zambada was captured according to several news outlets including Washington Post. Some said he surrendered. 

An official from the Department of Homeland Security and a former Justice Department official said Zambada was told he was boarding the flight with the younger Guzmán to go look at investment properties.

Joaquín Guzmán cooperated in the operation, the officials said. Homeland Security Investigations agents played a leading role in the secret operation, persuading Ovidio Guzmán to reach out to his brother, and then working with Joaquín to get Zambada on the plane, the DHS official said.

Joaquín Guzmán has been willing to “do a lot” to help Ovidio, who is awaiting trial on drug and money-laundering charges and could face a life sentence, the official said. Joaquín’s cooperation could win him significant concessions, according to the former Justice Department official.

The officials said that U.S. agents scrambled to get to the Santa Teresa airport because they hadn’t expected the ruse to work,  Both spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive case. But video footage from the airport possibly contradicts these claims showing that agents were ready and quickly detained two men from the plane.

At this time, three different versions leading up to the arrest of Mayo exist:

One being that he and Joaquin surrendered as part of a set deal. It is possible the two were part of a larger attempt at a deal involving more members of the Sinaloa Cartel but only the pair went through with the plan to surrender.

Another is the initial claim that Mayo was set up by Joaquin came from sources telling the Wall Street Journal and other news outlets that Mayo was 'tricked' onto the plane. The pair were to look at land real estate investments, some have said that the land was in northern Mexico, close to the U.S. border. Others stated that the land to be viewed was in southrn Mexico.

"El Mayo's" registered lawyer Frank Perez told journalist Keegan Hamilton that his client was not only taken to the US and into custody against his will, but that he was in fact kidnapped by six men in military uniforms. And that "El Mayo" was handcuffed, tied up and had a bag placed over his head before being taken onto the plane. The new photos of the zip ties in the OXXO bag could confirm this version of the events. Note, in the above message, the lawyer incorrectly refers to Joaquin Guzman Lopez as Lorena (Loera is El Chapo's name).

"El Mayo's" lawyer Frank Perez.

The Mexican government stated that it had no involvement with either of the arrests or the operation but was cooperating and collaborating with US authorities since they were notified of the arrests.

Newly released video footage showing the arrival of the plane to awaiting authorities on the runway. However, it is not currently known if the plane was taxiing on the runway for a period of time prior to pulling up to the authorities seen in the security footage.

One man is quickly detained and taken away from the Beechcraft King Air plane. After a short period of time (the video is clipped part way through), another man, seemingly in a blue shirt matching that of "El Mayo's" is taken off the plane and away into custody.

Sun City Skydive staff members confirmed the sequence seen in the new video footage, stating both cartel figures were calmly taken into custody.

Sources GOB.mx, Flight Aware, Jet Photos, KTSM, Reforma, Washington Post, Fit Fam El Paso, LA Times, Keegan Hamilton, USA Today

Categories: El Mayo, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, sinaloa cartel