Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a former kingpin of Mexico, has admitted guilt to the charges of his decades-long involvement in the violent and infamous Sinaloa cartel and its role in the US’s drug influx, including cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl.
Zambada, the alleged co-founder of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, admitted guilt on Monday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, to charges of racketeering and running a persistent criminal organization that prosecutors claimed was responsible for the import and distribution of sizable quantities of drugs.
His decades-long leadership of the Sinaloa cartel, along with Colorado’s maximum security prisoner Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who is currently serving a life sentence, contributed to those accusations.
After the US Justice Department announced this month that it would not seek the death penalty for him or for Rafael Caro Quintero, another septuagenarian alleged Mexican drug lord facing US charges, Zambada agreed to enter a guilty plea.
Through a Spanish-language interpreter, he said, “I recognize the serious harm that illegal drugs have caused to the people of the United States and Mexico.” I apologize for everything and accept accountability for my actions.
Zambada pleaded guilty, describing the scope of the Sinaloa operation as well as the undercover agents who established relationships with Colombian cocaine producers and oversaw the smuggling of the drug across the US and the importation of the drug by boat and plane. border with Mexico
He also acknowledged that employees of him paid bribes to Mexican military and police officers “so they could operate freely,” dating back to when the cartel was just beginning to exist.
After the plane they were traveling touched down in New Mexico and landed alongside Joaquin Guzman Lopez, one of Joaquin Guzman’s sons, in July 2024, Zambada was detained. The Guzman family lawyer has refuted the claim that Zambada’s lawyer claimed Guzman Lopez kidnapped her.
Guzman Lopez has entered a not-guilty plea to charges of trafficking in marijuana in the US. If found guilty, US prosecutors have stated that they will not seek his death.
In response to US President Donald Trump’s increasing pressure on Mexico to dismantle the country’s powerful drug organizations, Mexico sent more than 20 suspected cartel members to the US this month. Mexico has claimed that the US Justice Department has given it assurances against seeking the death penalty.
Source: Aljazeera
Leave a Reply