DEA: He's Mexico's Top Drug Lord

The Drug Enforcement Agency and FBI say Mexico's new number one drug lord rose to the top by eliminating his rivals and winning the trust of Colombian cocaine producers.

His name is Ismael Zambada-Garcia. In both Mexico and the United States, he is now the prime target in the war on drugs. He is wanted for the importation of tens of thousands of pounds of cocaine.  He is also accused of having links to other drug dealers who have been involved in several acts of violence, including the torture and killing of a DEA agent.

Zambada is allegedly the leader of a drug organization based in the Pacific Coast town of Mazatlan. Zambada is suspected of increasing his power by arranging the murder of his chief rival, Ramon Arellano Felix.  Police believe Zambada lured Arellano Felix to his home turf, where he'd paid the local police to kill him.  

A Massive, Well-oiled Operation

 According to authorities, Zambada's organization receives tons of cocaine from Colombia through maritime shipping to the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Nayarit.  The drugs are then smuggled with a variety of methods into the United States, and members of the organization then transport the drugs around the country to locations including Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.

The FBI and DEA operated a 19-month-long sting operation called Operation Trifecta, which focused on Zambada's drug organizations and the trafficking.  The operation spanned several states and resulted in the arrest of more than 240 suspected smugglers.  Agents seized nearly six tons of cocaine, 100 pounds of methamphetamine, 25,000 pounds of marijuana and $8.4 million in cash from alleged smugglers. But the main target -- Ismael Zambada -- got away.

New Look, New Location?

 Zambada is well aware that two governments have targeted him, and he's reportedly  taken the extreme step of undergoing plastic surgery to change his looks.

Federal authorities recently erected a series of billboards on highways between Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona, featuring a wanted poster of Zambada. Although there's no solid proof, he's believed to cross the border often to visit girlfriends. The DEA has stationed additional agents in southernmiost Arizona in an effort to step up the pressure on Zambada.