The Attorney General’s Office (FGR) confirmed on July 8 that it had identified the pilot of the aircraft used to transport Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada to the United States on July 25, 2024.
The pilot was arrested in Mexico for weapons possession and turned over to U.S. authorities, as detailed during a press conference led by Attorney General Ernestina Godoy. This revelation comes amid renewed diplomatic tensions over the possible involvement of the FBI in the operation and the lack of cooperation regarding the case.
Attorney General Godoy specified that the pilot’s identification was made possible through audio analysis. Mexican Air Navigation Services provided a key recording: the exact moment the pilot requested the transponder code from the Ciudad Juárez airport control tower to enter U.S. airspace.
The runway from which the plane took off was not authorized to operate, and the aircraft’s identification markings had been altered, according to the official investigation.
The airfield was secured by the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), while the FBI is currently exhibiting the aircraft at a museum in New Mexico as part of the fight against drug trafficking.
The FGR stated that the pilot was deported to Mexico shortly after Operation Kings Air, which aimed to extradite El Mayo Zambada to the United States. However, he continued to commit crimes within the country and was arrested for weapons possession.
David Boone de la Garza, head of the Specialized Regional Control Prosecutor’s Office, explained that after that, he was handed over in the batch of drug traffickers that Mexico sent to the US in August 2025.
“The pilot was deported, continued operating and committing crimes in Mexico, that’s the information on record; he was arrested for weapons possession and was handed over to the United States government under the National Security Act,” Boone said.
Although the Attorney General’s Office has not officially revealed the pilot’s name, information available in court documents and news reports agree in pointing to Mauro Alberto Núñez Ojeda, alias “El Jando,” as the possible operator of the aircraft used to transport Ismael Zambada.
Núñez Ojeda is identified as Iván Archivaldo Guzmán’s personal pilot. Guzmán was arrested in Sinaloa in February 2025 and extradited to the United States months later.
