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Isaí Martínez Zepeda, Nephew of “El Chapo” Guzman, Arrested in Nogales, Sonora

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By Samantha Johnson / May 26, 2026

By “El Huaso” for Borderland Beat

Isaí Martínez Zepeda, the nephew of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s and a high ranking Los Chapitos officer involved in synthetic drug trafficking, was arrested by Mexican security forces in Colonia Casa Blanca of Nogales, Sonora.

Zepeda is identified as a high ranking officer of the ‘Los Chapitos’ faction, in charge of producing and distributing synthetic drugs to the United States and Costa Rica. He has an extradition order from the United States.
Zepeda, then 25, was previously arrested in June 2008 in Sinaloa state by Policía Federal Preventiva. He was arrested in possession of a 9mm pistol; an AK-47; a cell phone; two communication radios, a USB drive, and a vehicle with a temporary permit to circulate from the state of Sonora. He was briefly transferred to the Altiplano prison, but was later freed.
He is the brother of another associate of El Chapo, Enoc “El Chinacate” Martínez Zepeda, “El Chinacate” who was arrested in 2005 in Sinaloa. Both men appeared on a wanted poster from the early 2010s showing El Chapo’s officers.

Sources: @OHarfuch Twitter, La Jornada 2008, El Financiero, Milenio, @crux1469


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