A Rare Photo of Vicente Zambada Reveals the Image Behind 'The Traitor’

The same source shared with LUIS two unpublished photographs of shadowy drug trafficker Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada.

A new image of Vicente Zambada Niebla was recently revealed to LUIS by sources in the United States. The photograph of the son of the legendary Sinaloan drug trafficker Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada was taken in 2010 upon his arrival in Chicago after being extradited from Mexico.

In the image, 'Vicentillo' is seen far from the glamorous look he wore at his last photographs in Mexico. This is the photograph that Zambada Niebla would have based his self-portrait on, published by journalist Anabel Hernández in her book 'The Traitor.’

The never-seen-before photograph shows what Zambada Niebla looked like when he first arrived in the United States 14 years ago. Today, according to sources consulted by LUIS, he looks almost unrecognizable because U.S. authorities have given him a new identity, and ten years after this image, his characteristic facial features have softened.

"He hasn't undergone surgery as far as we know, but he looks very different. The hair is very different, and his features are more rounded, not fat, but not as sharp as in the photograph," said a source from the U.S. government to LUIS.

Zambada Niebla, now 48 years old and 6'1" tall, pleaded guilty in 2013 to trafficking cocaine for Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, and in 2021, he was released under the supervision of authorities for being a key witness in the trial against Guzmán Loera.

Today, Zambada Niebla resides in a northern state of the United States with his wife Zynthia Borboa Zazueta. His sisters María Teresa, Midiam Patricia, and Mónica continue in the family's illegal business in Mexico, even holding public positions.

The same source in a U.S. federal agency shared with LUIS two unpublished photographs of the secretive drug trafficker Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada.

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