National News

A woman who took an abortion pill was charged with murder. She is now suing prosecutors

A woman who took an abortion pill was charged with murder. She is now suing prosecutors

Getty Images - STOCK/Andrey Denisyuk(AUSTIN, Texas.) -- A Texas woman who self-managed her abortion is suing prosecutors and a local sheriff after she was held in jail for two nights on a murder charge that was ultimately dismissed.Lizelle Gonzalez, a Star County, Texas, resident, filed a civil rights complaint alleging that hospital staff provided her… ... Continue Reading
Sonya Massey, woman killed in home by police, died by homicide with gunshot to head, autopsy shows

Sonya Massey, woman killed in home by police, died by homicide with gunshot to head, autopsy shows

ABC News(SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) -- Sonya Massey, the Illinois woman fatally shot by a deputy while responding to her 911 call, died by homicide due to a gunshot wound to her head, according to an autopsy report released Friday by the Sangamon County coroner.Though the autopsy report did not state the manner of death, Sangamon County… ... Continue Reading
Wildfires break out across California: Latest fire and smoke maps

Wildfires break out across California: Latest fire and smoke maps

ABC News(LOS ANGELES) -- Wildfires are exploding across the West, especially in California, where the Park Fire has now grown to be the biggest in the state this year.There are currently 11 wildfires over 1,000 acres burning in California, according to Cal Fire. The largest of those is the Park Fire, burning in Butte and… ... Continue Reading
Where is Susan Powell? Her disappearance, young sons' horrific deaths haunt family

Where is Susan Powell? Her disappearance, young sons' horrific deaths haunt family

Courtesy of The Cox Family(NEW YORK) -- A special encore “20/20” airing Friday, July 26, at 9 p.m. ET, which originally aired in 2020, revisits the case of missing Utah mom Susan Powell. The show looks at the continued hunt for Susan’s body and the heartbreaking details surrounding the murders of her two sons at… ... Continue Reading
Top Sinaloa cartel leaders, including son of El Chapo, taken into US custody: DOJ

Top Sinaloa cartel leaders, including son of El Chapo, taken into US custody: DOJ

Andrew Brookes/Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) -- Two top leaders of the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel have been taken into custody by United States authorities to face charges for their role in leading the group's vast drug trafficking enterprise, the Department of Justice announced Thursday.

Sinaloa cartel co-founder Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of "El Chapo" Guzman, were placed under arrest in El Paso, Texas, on Thursday, according to Attorney General Merrick Garland.

"Both men are facing multiple charges in the United States for leading the Cartel's criminal operations, including its deadly fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks," Garland said in a statement. "El Mayo and Guzman Lopez join a growing list of Sinaloa Cartel leaders and associates who the Justice Department is holding accountable in the United States."

Zambada made his initial appearance Friday morning in El Paso federal court before Judge Anne Berton, according to court records. He was ordered detained pending his arraignment hearing, scheduled for July 31.

Zambada faces multiple federal indictments for his alleged role in the cartel and has been on the run from U.S. and Mexican law enforcement for years. His fellow co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzman, was extradited to the U.S. in 2017, convicted in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison.

"Today, the FBI and DEA arrested two alleged cartel leaders who have eluded law enforcement for decades. Ismael Mario 'El Mayo' Zambada García and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of El Chapo, will now face justice in the United States," FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.

"Garcia and Guzman have allegedly overseen the trafficking of tens of thousands of pounds of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the U.S. along with related violence. These arrests are an example of the FBI's and our partners commitment to dismantling violent transnational criminal organizations like the Sinaloa Cartel," Wray said.

The men were arrested in an operation that ended on U.S. soil.

"El Mayo" thought he was headed to inspect a clandestine Mexican airfield, of which the Sinaloa cartel has many in the country. Instead, according to a Homeland Security Investigations official, a senior ranking member of the cartel tricked him and flew him to El Paso instead.

Upon landing on the tarmac, agents from HSI, along with the FBI arrested "El Mayo" and Guzman.

The HSI official tells ABC News the operation had been planned "for months."

They were placed in handcuffs by FBI agents during an operation culminating at an airstrip not far from El Paso.

"The arrest of Ismael Zambada García, better known as 'El Mayo,' one of the alleged founders and leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, strikes at the heart of the cartel that is responsible for the majority of drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, killing Americans from coast to coast. El Mayo is one of DEA's most wanted fugitives and he is in custody tonight and will soon face justice in a U.S. court of law," said Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Anne Milgram.

"Joaquin Guzman Lopez, another alleged leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, and the son of 'El Chapo,' was also arrested today -- his arrest is another enormous blow to the Sinaloa Cartel. In 2017, he and his brothers, the Chapitos, allegedly took control of the Sinaloa Cartel after El Chapo was extradited to the United States. DEA will continue to seek justice for any American life that is lost and will work tirelessly to prevent more needless deaths and pursue those that are responsible," Milgram said.

The Mexican government said was not aware that the two were going to be extradited to the U.S. to be arrested, Mexican authorities said during a press briefing on Friday.

The Mexican government received a phone call from the U.S. Embassy Thursday afternoon informing them the two were in custody in El Paso, the authorities said. The Mexican government has asked U.S. officials for pictures of the two men to confirm the information.

According to the flight plan, the private plane that was used to transport the two men traveled from Hermosillo, Sonora, to Santa Teresa, New Mexico, Mexican authorities said.

The U.S. government had offered a $15 million reward for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Zambada.

"Too many of our citizens have lost their lives to the scourge of fentanyl," President Joe Biden said in a statement Friday morning. "Too many families have been broken and are suffering because of this destructive drug. My Administration will continue doing everything we can to hold deadly drug traffickers to account and to save American lives."

Guzman Lopez's brother, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, was charged last year with two dozen others as part of a crackdown targeting a global drug trafficking network run through Mexico's Sinaloa cartel. According to the charges, the cartel used precursor chemicals shipped from China to fuel the fentanyl crisis plaguing the U.S.

Ovidio Guzman Lopez had been wanted by U.S. authorities since 2019 and was captured by Mexican armed forces in January 2023 in a small town just outside the city of Culiacán, the capital of the Mexican state of Sinaloa.

He was captured in an overnight raid that had been in the works for more than six months, officials said at the time. The arrest followed an infamous incident in 2019, in which authorities briefly detained Guzman Lopez at a home in Culiacán, before word spread and heavily armed gunmen flooded the city. Massive shootouts occurred between cartel members and Mexican armed forces around the city. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador ordered Guzman Lopez released in order to avoid more bloodshed.

Their father is serving a life sentence in the U.S. after being convicted in 2019 of conducting a continuing criminal enterprise, including large-scale narcotics violations and a murder conspiracy, drug trafficking conspiracies, unlawful use of a firearm and a money laundering conspiracy.

ABC News' Anne Laurent contributed to this report.

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Manhattan DA asks judge not to throw out Trump's criminal hush money conviction

Manhattan DA asks judge not to throw out Trump's criminal hush money conviction

Steven Hirsch-Pool/Getty Images(NEW YORK) --Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Thursday asked a New York judge to reject former President Donald Trump's attempt to throw out his criminal hush money conviction, arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark ruling on presidential immunity "has nothing to say about defendant's conviction."Trump earlier this month asked Judge Juan… ... Continue Reading
Ex-deputy who fatally shot Sonya Massey was discharged from the Army for serious misconduct

Ex-deputy who fatally shot Sonya Massey was discharged from the Army for serious misconduct

Sangamon County Sheriff's Office(SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) -- The Illinois deputy who fatally shot Sonya Massey in her home while responding to her 911 call was discharged from the U.S. Army for “misconduct (serious offense),” according to documents obtained by ABC News.Sean Grayson, the former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy, was discharged on February 24, 2016, after beginning… ... Continue Reading
Boeing capsule astronauts remain at Space Station with no return date, NASA says

Boeing capsule astronauts remain at Space Station with no return date, NASA says

NASA via AP(NEW YORK) -- Boeing Starliner's first astronaut-crewed capsule, which launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on June 5, remains docked at the station with no official return date, NASA said Thursday."We don't have a major announcement today relative to a return date," NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich said during a… ... Continue Reading
Officials charge man for starting California wildfire that has burned more than 71,000 acres

Officials charge man for starting California wildfire that has burned more than 71,000 acres

Oregon Department of Transportation via AP(CHICO, Calif.) -- A Northern California wildland fire that exploded overnight into the state's largest blaze this wildfire season, destroying structures and prompting thousands of evacuations, was allegedly started by a man who pushed a burning car into a gully, authorities said Thursday.The 48-year-old arson suspect charged with starting the… ... Continue Reading
Court sets Aug. 27 deadline for brief appealing Trump classified docs dismissal

Court sets Aug. 27 deadline for brief appealing Trump classified docs dismissal

Travis Dove/Bloomberg via Getty Images(ATLANTA) -- Special counsel Jack Smith's opening brief appealing the dismissal of former President Donald Trump's classified documents case is due on Aug. 27, according to a briefing notice Thursday from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.Smith last week filed an official notice of appeal after U.S.… ... Continue Reading
Former Uvalde school district police officer pleads not guilty as victims' families look on

Former Uvalde school district police officer pleads not guilty as victims' families look on

Uvalde County Sheriff's Office via AP(UVALDE, Texas) -- A former Uvalde, Texas, school district police officer pleaded not guilty to the 29 counts against him on Thursday as families of the Robb Elementary School victims looked on.Two teachers and 19 students were killed in the May 24, 2022, mass shooting. Law enforcement waited some 77… ... Continue Reading
Man shot, injured at Pennsylvania Trump rally released from hospital

Man shot, injured at Pennsylvania Trump rally released from hospital

Dutch Family(NEW YORK) -- One of the two men shot and injured in the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump has been released from the hospital, officials said.David Dutch, 57, was discharged on Wednesday, Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh said.Dutch was shot in the chest and liver and was initially in a medically induced… ... Continue Reading
Migrant apprehensions continue to decline in US

Migrant apprehensions continue to decline in US

Bloomberg Creative Photos/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- The Border Patrol has made fewer than 1,800 apprehensions per day over the past week, a major decline following the implementation of new asylum restrictions that significantly cut humanitarian protections for those who cross the border illegally.Migrant encounters along the southern border are down 55% since the restrictions took… ... Continue Reading
Election officials continue to face threats, harassment ahead of November

Election officials continue to face threats, harassment ahead of November

adamkaz/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- In early July, a man wearing a gator face mask, sunglasses, and camera equipment attached to a vest walked into the elections building in King County, Washington, and began to take videos and photos of the employees and their surroundings.The man, according to a video obtained by ABC News, approached a… ... Continue Reading
Tourist suffers third-degree burns to feet after losing flip-flops in Death Valley

Tourist suffers third-degree burns to feet after losing flip-flops in Death Valley

National Park Service(LAS VEGAS) -- A tourist from Belgium has been hospitalized in Las Vegas after suffering third-degree burns to his feet while walking on sand dunes in Death Valley, officials said.The 42-year-old man was wearing flip flops when officials from the National Park Service said that they either broke or he lost them in… ... Continue Reading
Three tree workers shot while clearing way for power company before suspect shot by cops during arrest

Three tree workers shot while clearing way for power company before suspect shot by cops during arrest

Facebook / Yancey County Sheriff's Office(NEW YORK) -- A man shot three tree workers while they were clearing trees for a power company before being shot himself by police officers during his arrest, police said.The incident began near Murphytown, North Carolina, located in the Green Mountain area of Yancey County, when local resident 36-year-old Lucas… ... Continue Reading
Man, 70, found safe nearly week after going missing on off-road trail

Man, 70, found safe nearly week after going missing on off-road trail

Placer County Sheriff's Office(NEW YORK) -- A 70-year-old man is in "good spirits" after being found nearly a week after going missing while on an off-road trail in California, authorities said Wednesday.Warren Elliott got lost after walking away from his group while on the Rubicon Trail in Placer County Friday afternoon, according to the Placer… ... Continue Reading
Woman found dead hours before she was to be sentenced for killing her husband

Woman found dead hours before she was to be sentenced for killing her husband

Sheila Paras/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- A Connecticut woman was found dead at her home on Wednesday, hours before she was scheduled to be sentenced for killing her husband.Linda Kosuda-Bigazzi, 76, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in March in the 2017 death of her husband, 84-year-old Pierluigi Bigazzi, according to the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice.… ... Continue Reading
Salman Rushdie stabbing suspect now faces federal terrorism charges

Salman Rushdie stabbing suspect now faces federal terrorism charges

Marilyn Nieves/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- The man accused of stabbing author Salman Rushdie on stage at a speaking event in upstate New York in 2022 now faces federal terrorism charges, according to an indictment unsealed on Wednesday.Hadi Matar, of Fairview, New Jersey, was indicted by a grand jury on three counts, including attempting to provide… ... Continue Reading
Nine injured, hundreds evacuated in JFK airport escalator fire

Nine injured, hundreds evacuated in JFK airport escalator fire

WABC-TV(NEW YORK) -- Several people were taken to the hospital after an escalator caught fire at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Wednesday morning, a spokesperson for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey told ABC News.The small fire in Concourse C sent smoke billowing through the airport's Terminal 8 at… ... Continue Reading