Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, 77, co-founder of Mexico's notorious Sinaloa cartel, pleaded guilty on 25/8 to leading a criminal enterprise, as well as corruption and racketeering charges. The Sinaloa cartel is Mexico's oldest and one of the world's most powerful and violent drug trafficking organizations. The US considers the cartel a terrorist group.
Zambada faces a minimum life sentence in a Brooklyn, New York court. He also agreed to forfeit $15 billion in assets.
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Zambada's guilty plea, calling it a major victory in President Donald Trump's efforts to eliminate foreign terrorist organizations and protect American citizens from drugs and violence.
"Thanks to the tireless efforts of federal officials, Zambada will spend the rest of his life behind bars. He will die in a US federal prison, where he belongs," Bondi said.
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Drug lord Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada. Photo: Reuters |
Drug lord Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada. Photo: Reuters
For the past 30 years, the Sinaloa cartel has profited billions of dollars from smuggling drugs into the US. Zambada founded the cartel with Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who is serving a life sentence in Colorado.
Initially, the Sinaloa cartel trafficked cocaine, later shifting to heroin and fentanyl under Zambada's leadership.
"They purchase fentanyl precursors from China, manufacture the drugs in Mexico, and smuggle them into US communities, killing our children. Zambada also operated his cartel using extreme violence," Bondi said.
The attorney general added that the Sinaloa cartel used heavy weapons, carried out assassinations, and kidnappings to maintain internal discipline.
Zambada was also accused of bribing US government officials, controlling them to protect shipments from Mexico to the US. He was indicted in at least 16 federal courts across the country.
Zambada was arrested on 25/7 upon landing at an airport in El Paso, Texas, and then extradited to New York for trial. He pleaded guilty two weeks after prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty.
Duc Trung (FOX News, ABC News)
