Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the 77-year-old co-founder of Mexico’s notorious Sinaloa Cartel, will spend the rest of his life behind bars after pleading guilty to a racketeering charge in a sweeping U.S. federal case. The plea deal, announced Monday by Attorney General Pamela Bondi, includes the forfeiture of $15 billion in cartel profits and carries a mandatory life sentence without parole.
“El Mayo will spend the rest of his life behind bars. He will die in a U.S. federal prison where he belongs,” Bondi declared at a press briefing in Brooklyn, flanked by prosecutors and federal agents. “Their reign of terror is over.”
Zambada, long considered one of the most elusive and powerful drug lords in the world, was arrested in July 2024 upon arriving in the United States via private plane alongside Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of the infamous Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. Their sudden capture ignited a brutal power struggle within the cartel, leaving over 1,200 dead and more than 1,400 missing in Sinaloa state alone.
Zambada was previously indicted on 17 counts, including murder and trafficking of large quantities of fentanyl—a synthetic opioid up to 50 times more potent than heroin, which has fueled a devastating overdose crisis across the U.S. In pleading guilty to racketeering, he avoids a lengthy trial but faces the harshest possible sentence under U.S. law.
The Justice Department accuses the Sinaloa Cartel of being a primary supplier of fentanyl into the United States, contributing to tens of thousands of deaths annually. The plea agreement includes Zambada’s admission to leading violent operations responsible for multiple murders, drug smuggling, and money laundering on an international scale.
“Zambada was living like a king,” Bondi added. “Now he’ll live like he’s on death row.”
The Sinaloa Cartel, long considered one of the world’s most powerful drug trafficking organizations, has been designated a global terrorist organization by former President Donald Trump. In June, the Trump administration escalated its crackdown, imposing sanctions on “Los Chapitos”—El Chapo’s sons—and offering $10 million rewards for each fugitive heir involved in fentanyl trafficking.
U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, Justin R. Simmons, described the cartel’s extensive and violent history, citing its prolonged war with the Juarez Cartel along the U.S.-Mexico border. “The Sinaloa Cartel has waged a years-long drug war, spilling blood on both sides of the border,” Simmons said.
Zambada’s sentencing date has yet to be scheduled, but the outcome is clear: a life behind bars, marking the end of an era for the Sinaloa Cartel and a major win for U.S. efforts against international drug trafficking.
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