(MEXICO CITY) — The co-founder of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel pleaded guilty Monday to federal drug trafficking charges that accused him of being one of the most prolific and powerful narcotraffickers in the world.
Ismael Zambada, 75, pleaded guilty to two counts contained in two different indictments, including one that charged him with engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise for 35 years beginning in 1989.
Judge Brian Cogan said he would sentence Zambada to life in prison. The plea agreement orders him to forfeit $15 billion.
His sentencing has been scheduled for Jan. 13, 2026.
Zambada, who is known as El Mayo, said his career began when he was teen while speaking from a prepared statement with dozens of federal drug agents crowding the courtroom.
“I started getting involved with illegal drugs in 1969 when I was 19 years old when I planted marijuana for the first time,” Zambada said. “I went on to sell heroin and other drugs, especially cocaine.”
El Mayo founded the Sinaloa cartel with Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, shipping at least 1.5 million kilos of cocaine since 1980 largely to the United States and maintaining control through the regular use of violence, bribery and murder.
Zambada admitted in court he “directed people under my control to kill others to further the interests of my organization” during the Mexican drug wars of the 1980s and 1990s and he conceded “many innocent people” were killed.
“I recognize the great harm illegal drugs have done to the people in the United States and Mexico,” Zambada said.
Federal prosecutors have said Zambada presided over a violent, militarized cartel armed with high-powered weapons and a cadre of hitmen.
His guilty plea followed the conviction at trial of El Chapo in the same federal courthouse in Brooklyn. Guzman is serving a life sentence in a maximum-security prison.
Zambada thought he was flying with one of Guzman’s sons to inspect a clandestine Mexican airfield when he instead landed in El Paso and was taken into U.S. custody in July 2024, according to a Homeland Security Investigations official.
His defense attorney, Frank Perez, said the plea agreement contains no cooperation component.
“He recognizes that his actions over the course of many years constitute serious violations of the United States drug laws, and he accepts full responsibility for what he did wrong,” Perez said in a statement. “The agreement that he reached with the U.S. authorities is a matter of public record. It is not a cooperation agreement, and I can state categorically that there is no deal under which he is cooperating with the United States Government or any other government.”
Perez said Zambada calls on Sinaloa to “remain calm” and “avoid violence” after descendants of El Mayo and El Chapo have waged a bloody war for control of the cartel.
“My client is also mindful of the impact of this case on his home state of Sinaloa. He calls upon the people of Sinaloa to remain calm, to exercise restraint, and to avoid violence,” Perez said. “Nothing is gained by bloodshed; it only deepens wounds and prolongs suffering. He urges his community to look instead toward peace and stability for the future of the state.”
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