Putting a face and name to the leaders and members of the Los Mayos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel has been a complicated task for authorities. Discretion, one of the lessons inherited from Ismael El Mayo Zambada, has been their ally for years; however, it has not made them untouchable.
After the fall of the man also known as Señor del Sombrero in July 2024, many doubts arose about the succession to the leadership of his criminal empire, given that some of his sons—such as Vicente Zambada Niebla, Ismael Zambada Imperial, and Serafín Zambada Ortiz—were arrested years earlier and faced legal proceedings in the United States.
Despite this, among his other heirs was Ismael Zambada Sicairos, alias El Mayito Flaco, whose paternal surname cemented his position as the head of one of the Sinaloa Cartel’s most powerful splinter groups and, in turn, the general of the troops that have been fighting Los Chapitos in Culiacán for over a year.
Although the Los Mayos faction has multiple armed branches at its service in various states, in the Sinaloa capital, an old ally of El Mayo Zambada joined forces with his son: Alfonso Limón Sánchez, alias Pancho Limón.
Although his name is not well-known nationally and his face is little known, his illicit operations have led him to become one of the most wanted fugitives by the US anti-narcotics agency, and he has even been considered one of the few possible successors to the faction’s leadership despite not being a Zambada by birth. “Born on the La Apompa ranch in Badiraguato. He gives all the credit to Doña Chayito for the life she gave him. They watered the plant very well and the fruit of the lemon tree came out well. I don’t forget where I come from, much less my people. I know it’s not easy and that they’ve struggled just like me, which is why every December we celebrate and receive gifts from Alfonso Limón,” can be heard in the first minutes of a narcocorrido dedicated to the leader of Los Mayos.
The controversial song tells the story of a drug trafficker, from his origins to the indulgences that the profits from his lucrative business allowed him to afford, details that are also reflected in investigations that US authorities have conducted into him for more than a decade.
In January 2015, Alfonso Limón Sánchez was designated by the Treasury Department after being identified as one of Ismael El Mayo Zambada’s closest associates. At that time, the criminal leader was known as Chubas, however, years later his alias ended up being consolidated as Pancho Limón.
