Attorney Jonathan Savella, who represents Mauro Alberto Núñez Ojeda—alias “El Jando,” a pilot for Los Chapitos—confirmed that his client was not arrested on July 25, 2024. That was the day he flew Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada from Culiacán, Sinaloa, to Santa Teresa, New Mexico, where Zambada was captured alongside Joaquín Guzmán López.
“I can confirm that he was not arrested that day. I cannot confirm where he was that day,” Savella told journalist Ioan Grillo in an interview published on July 23 by the outlet CrashOut.
The statement raises new questions about what happened to the Los Chapitos pilot after he landed at the airfield where FBI agents were waiting for “El Chapo” Guzmán’s son and “El Mayo” Zambada—the latter of whom has already been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Savella also revealed to the British journalist that Núñez Ojeda faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years due to the quantity of cocaine trafficked, and that he is currently being held in a District of Columbia prison awaiting his sentencing hearing.
When asked whether “El Jando” intends to cooperate with U.S. prosecutors, the defense attorney would only say that he could neither “confirm nor deny” whether he would do so.
