Arrested in Mexico City: ‘Don Flaco,’ Accused by U.S. of Running a China-to-Mexico Fentanyl Chemical Pipeline for the Sinaloa Cartel
Mexican federal agents arrested José Ángel Rivera Zazueta, known as “Don Flaco,” on Tuesday, September 22, in Mexico City’s Cuauhtémoc borough. U.S. authorities accuse him of coordinating and financing a network that moved chemical precursors from China to Mexico and the United States, El Imparcial reported that day. The arrest was made on a provisional detention order with a view to extradition to the United States.
How the arrest happened
According to El Imparcial (September 22), Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch announced the arrest. Agents from the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), working through its Criminal Investigation Agency, carried it out together with the SSPC, using information shared by the FBI and the DEA. Infobae reported on September 23 that this intelligence helped narrow his movements to the Cuauhtémoc borough, and that agents found and arrested him in the Hipódromo neighborhood.
The DEA said on social media that the information-sharing “helped” Mexican authorities find him, and pledged to keep working to disrupt “the chemicals, the money and the criminal networks” behind synthetic drugs, Infobae reported. El Imparcial said officials had not disclosed any seized money or property.
What Washington alleges
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Rivera Zazueta in January 2023. At the time, it alleged that his network imported precursors from China to make fentanyl, methamphetamine, MDMA, 2C-B and ketamine, and that he worked with Shanghai Fast-Fine Chemicals, a company OFAC had already sanctioned, according to both outlets. OFAC also accused him of shipping cocaine from Colombia to the United States, Spain, Italy, Guatemala and other countries. Infobae described him as an alleged operator for Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
Infobae also cited allegations by journalist Anabel Hernández. She has reported that Rivera Zazueta controlled drug and chemical flows through Mexico City’s international airport from at least 2020, and that he paid bribes to officials stationed there. Those claims come from her investigation. They have not been tested in court.
What comes next
El Imparcial noted that the arrest starts an extradition process but does not guarantee it. A Mexican court must still decide whether to grant the U.S. request. The specific charges he faces in the United States have not been made public. He has not been convicted of any crime.
Sources
- El Imparcial, “Detienen en la Ciudad de México a José Ángel ‘N’, alias ‘Don Flaco’…,” September 22, 2026
- Infobae México, “DEA presume ‘ayuda’ a México en el arresto de ‘Don Flaco’…,” September 23, 2026
Reported September 23, 2026, from Mexican media accounts of statements by Mexican and U.S. authorities. The Narco Blog has not independently verified the allegations, and the extradition case remains pending.