Mexican drug cartel leader Ismael Zambada García, also known as “El Mayo,” pleaded guilty on Monday to drug trafficking, marking a significant victory for United States authorities who spent decades hunting one of the Sinaloa Cartel’s founders.
Federal agents captured Zambada García last year in Texas, along with Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of a different Sinaloa leader known as “El Chapo.” Zambada García was known for running the cartel’s smuggling operations.
Zambada García pleaded guilty to one count of taking part in a continuing criminal enterprise and one count of racketeering conspiracy and will be sentenced to life in prison, according to the New York Times.
“I started getting involved with illegal drugs in 1969, when I was 19 years old and I planted marijuana for the first time,” the cartel leader said in a prepared statement in court. “I recognize the great harm that illegal drugs have done to the people of the United States and Mexico and elsewhere.”
Zambada Garcia is among a list of 28 cartel members that were charged by the U.S. with drug offenses, money laundering, murder, and other violent crimes in 2023.
“His guilty plea brings us one step closer to achieving our goal: the elimination of the drug cartels and the transnational criminal organizations throughout this WORLD,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.
Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.
