Who is drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada? Former Mexican cartel kingpin pleads guilty, awarded life sentence

Former Mexican cartel kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada will spend the rest of his life in prison after pleading guilty Monday to U.S. drug trafficking charges and saying he was sorry for helping flood the U.S. with cocaine, heroin and other illicit substances and for fueling deadly violence in Mexico.

“I recognize the great harm illegal drugs have done to the people of the United States, of Mexico, and elsewhere,” 75-year-old Zambada said through a Spanish-language interpreter. “I take responsibility for my role in all of it and I apologize to everyone who has suffered or been affected by my actions."

Under Zambada's leadership and that of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the Sinaloa cartel evolved from a regional player into the largest drug trafficking organization in the world, prosecutors say.


“Culpable,” Zambada said, using the Spanish word for “guilty,” as he entered his plea in a Brooklyn courtroom, about 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) from Mexico’s Sinaloa state.

He acknowledged the extent of the Sinaloa operation, including underlings who built relationships with cocaine producers in Colombia, oversaw importing cocaine to Mexico by boat and plane and smuggling the drug across the U.S.-Mexico border. He said the cartel raked in hundreds of millions of dollars a year and admitted that people working for him paid bribes to Mexican police and military commanders “so they could operate freely."

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi flew to New York to herald Zambada’s guilty plea as a “landmark victory," telling reporters at a news conference that he “will die in a U.S. federal prison, where he belongs.”

“This guy, ‘El Mayo,’ was living like a king,” Bondi said. ”Now he’s living like a criminal for the rest of his life.”

Bondi’s visit to Brooklyn underscored President Donald Trump’s anti-cartel crusade. His administration has declared drug cartels to be terrorist organizations, positioned military assets off Venezuela and compelled the Mexican government to hand over several dozen high-ranking cartel officials for prosecution.

El Mayo Legacy

Sought by U.S. law enforcement for more than two decades, Zambada was arrested in Texas last year, at the end of the Biden administration, when the drug lord arrived in a private plane with one of Guzmán’s sons, Joaquín Guzmán López. Zambada says he was kidnapped in Mexico and taken against his will to the U.S.

His arrest, along with that of Guzmán López, touched off deadly fighting in his home state of Sinaloa between rival cartel factions, pitting his loyalists against backers of Guzmán’s sons, dubbed the Chapitos, or “little Chapos.”

Considered a good negotiator, Zambada was seen as the cartel’s strategist and dealmaker who was more involved in its day-to-day doings than the flamboyant Guzmán. Prosecutors have said Zambada was enmeshed in the group’s violence, at one point ordering the murder of his own nephew.

In the Sinaloan capital of Culiacan, dead bodies lie in streets or sometimes appear hanging from highway underpasses. Businesses shutter early because people don’t want to be out after dark. Schools grind to a halt during sudden bursts of conflict. People ranging from social media influencers to animal caregivers have been touched by the bloodshed.

FAQs

Q1. What is age of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada?
A1. Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada is 75-year-old.

Q2. Who is Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada?
A2. Under El Mayo's leadership and that of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the Sinaloa cartel evolved from a regional player into the largest drug trafficking organization in the world, prosecutors say.