Netflix has revealed the trailer for The Fall of El Mayo, the docuseries detailing the 2024 arrest of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García, a founding member of the Sinaloa cartel and a longtime fugitive from law enforcement.
It comes in three parts, and the first episode will premiere on October 29.
The capture of the notorious drug kingpin occurred on July 25, 2024, when he arrived at a small airport in New Mexico on a private aircraft along with Joaquín Guzmán López, son of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
U.S. police apprehended Zambada at the airport.
The series aims to discover how the event took place: was it a kidnapping, betrayal, or secret operation?
“The repercussions of that July 25 continue to reverberate throughout the world of organized crime, in U.S.-Mexico relations, and, most tragically, in the lives of countless innocent people caught in the midst of the latest chapter in a failed war on drugs,” said Darren Foster and Miguel Fernández Flores, the directors of the documentary series, in their statement.
According to Zambada’s attorney, Guzmán Jr. physically assaulted Zambada, handcuffed him, and forced him onto the private plane. The arrest sparked violent conflict in Sinaloa between Zambada’s followers and the supporters of Guzmán’s children, nicknamed the Chapitos.
In August 2025, Zambada pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and continuing criminal enterprise. A judge in Brooklyn sentenced him to life in prison without parole on July 20. Guzmán López has also pleaded guilty to drug trafficking.
Darren Foster, who previously won Peabody and Emmy Awards, directed the documentary with Miguel Fernández Flores, whose credits include Vice News Tonight and Vice Investigates. The series was made using exclusive testimonies, previously unseen archival materials, and hundreds of court papers from Mexico and the U.S., as well as from both sides of the border.
“Our challenge was to tell the story of a man about whom there are practically no records,” the directors said. “Before his downfall, there were only a few photos of El Mayo and not a single recording of his voice.”
“So we combined investigative journalism with first-person storytelling, interviewing those who were directly involved in various key events: security agents, politicians, and journalists, as well as people close to the cartel and to the families caught in the midst of it all,” they added. “The result is an in-depth exploration of power and betrayal in the murky world of organized crime.”
The directors compared the story to classical drama.
“El Mayo’s downfall has all the elements of a Shakespearean tragedy: an aging leader who managed to evade all his adversaries for half a century, only to fall, according to some accounts, at the hands of his closest ally’s son,” they said.
The limited series consists of three episodes, each approximately 59 minutes long. Muck Media Productions is credited with producing the series. It is produced in Mexico.
Foster and Mariana Van Zeller are listed as executive producers. Zoey Haar, Keegan Hamilton, and Miguel Ángel Vega are also producers. Michael Lockridge is the director of photography. Editors include Chris Kronus, Joaquín Elizondo, Erik Chapelle, and Hunter Gross.
The Fall of El Mayo will premiere on October 29 exclusively on Netflix.
