Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the accused co-founder and leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, pleaded guilty Aug. 25 to U.S. drug trafficking charges − including flooding the United States with deadly fentanyl − and will spend the rest of his life in an American prison.
The plea in Brooklyn, New York, caps a stunning reversal of fortune for Zambada, who ruled what is widely considered to be the world’s biggest and deadliest organized crime syndicate for decades, even as his co-founder Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman made all the headlines.
Zambada’s plea agreement, which resolves cases against him in numerous U.S. jurisdictions, includes an agreement to forfeit $15 billion in illegal profits, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York.
Specifically, Zambada pleaded guilty to being a principal leader of a continuing criminal enterprise, the Sinaloa Cartel, and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) charges before United States District Judge Brian Cogan.
“Zambada Garcia has now been held accountable for the tons of illegal narcotics, including cocaine and fentanyl, that he and his organization trafficked for decades, and the murders and other acts of violence committed in furtherance of that enterprise,” said U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Galeotti said that under Zambada’s leadership, the Sinaloa Cartel “made billions of dollars by importing poisonous drugs to the United States, flooding our streets with cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl.”
Zambada, who the Justice Department said is 75, had previously pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from his role in leading the Sinaloa cartel.
He was arrested in July 2024 in New Mexico alongside one of Guzman’s sons, after their plane landed just over the Mexican border. His arrest, and the circumstances around it, have thrust the organization into a period of bloody warfare between rival factions.
Zambada’s lawyer, Frank Perez, told USA TODAY at the time that Guzman Lopez kidnapped Zambada and flew him to the United States against his will. Guzman’s representatives have denied that.
Perez did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.
Guzman, who was arrested for the third time in 2016 and later convicted in New York, is serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison in Colorado.
More: Exclusive: Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael Zambada kidnapped, flown to the US, lawyer says
On Aug. 14, Mexico sent more than two dozen suspected cartel members to the United States amid pressure from President Donald Trump on Mexico to dismantle the Sinaloa cartel and the country’s other powerful drug organizations.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sinaloa cartel boss ‘El Mayo’ Zambada pleads guilty to fentanyl role
