Mexico Investigate The Loss Of Drug Lord Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada

The arrests of Joaquin Guzman Lopez and Ismael Zambada. (Source: Homeland Security Investigations/Department of Homeland Security)

JAKARTA - Mexican prosecutors announced on Wednesday that they were investigating the disappearance of two bodyguards on the same day as a dramatic arrest of one of the founders of the notorious Sinaloa Cartel, alongside son Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in the United States last month.

Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who founded the Sinaloa Cartel with Guzman, said he was kidnapped by the son of his former colleague and gunmen in what he described as an ambush, then taken by plane to the United States, where they were later arrested.

In a letter shared by his lawyer, Zambada said he had been accompanied to a meeting with Guzman's son by Jose Heras, the chief justice police officer of Sinaloa State and Rodolfo Chaidez, an "old member" of his security team.

Family lawyer Guzman said the arrests were voluntary surrenders after years of negotiations.

Sinaloa State Prosecutor Sara Quinonez told reporters that Heras and Chaidez, a former state investigative agent, had been reported missing by their families.

He said Heras had been suspended from his post and if found alive, he would be arrested. Heras has been on vacation since July 15 and his family said he would visit a relative on the day he disappeared, he said.

Meanwhile, a source from the prosecutor's office told Reuters Chaidez had been an active member of security forces for several years, working on an investigation, but did not share further details.

Separately, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he did not know how Zambada was arrested on July 25 and had reprimanded the US Government for its lack of transparency.

President Lopez Obrador has urged prosecutors to investigate the full facts of the arrest, which is seen as one of the biggest punches to Mexican drug trafficking in recent years.

However, the Mexican president believes the arrests of major crime bosses will not stop rising fentanyl consumption in the United States and the thousands of deaths it continues to cause.

On the other hand, the US Embassy said flights carrying Zambada and Joaquin Guzman Lopez out of Mexico to the airport near El Paso, Texas, were operating without US resources and its flight plans were not shared with US authorities.

Both Zambada and Guzman Lopez pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges in US courts.