This Thursday, July 2, 2026, after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed the donation of the plane in which Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was transported after being kidnapped in Sinaloa and handed over to US authorities, the news outlet Pie de Nota exclusively shared with Infobae Mexico videos of the interior and exterior of the aircraft, as well as two previously unpublished photographs showing Zambada and Joaquín “El Güero” Guzmán disembarking the plane, surrounded by federal agents.
The images are the first to show the moment the two drug lords arrived at the Santa Teresa airport in New Mexico on July 25, 2024.
The photographs, shared by Pie de Nota, the media outlet headed by journalist Luis Chaparro, revealed the moment “El Mayo” and “El Güero” disembarked the aircraft, following what was later confirmed as a kidnapping of Zambada.
In the image of Guzmán López, five men are seen positioned in front of the white jet on a cracked asphalt runway. El Güero is wearing a long-sleeved black shirt and blue jeans; a man with his face blurred is holding his arm. Next to the steps, a man, presumably an agent in a gray suit and dress shirt, appears to be about to board the aircraft; a pistol is visible on his hip. To the right of the frame, another man in a gray suit observes the scene; in the background, another man wearing a uniform with a police logo is standing at the tail of the plane.
In the second photograph, three men surround the steps of the Beechcraft King Air, a white aircraft with black and gold stripes, whose registration number N287KA is partially visible on the side of the plane. Ismael Zambada—identified by his blue Hugo Boss polo shirt—descends, assisted by three men. A fourth man observes him from the top of the steps, behind him. “El Mayo” was wearing a watch with a metal face and black strap when he arrived in the US, although the details of the watch are not visible.
A source revealed to Pie de Nota that neither of the two men disembarked bound and that both were arrested once they touched down, as seen in the footage. The outlet also published a video on its social media accounts detailing some of the official reports and documents to which they had access.
