The co-founder of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia, has pleaded guilty to leading a continuing criminal enterprise and racketeering — charges that will keep him in an American prison for life.
Zambada, 75, spent decades evading capture while building what is widely considered the world’s largest and deadliest drug cartel. While his partner Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman drew more headlines, prosecutors say Zambada quietly controlled the cartel, fueling violence and flooding the U.S. with fentanyl, cocaine, heroin and meth.
“This foreign terrorist committed horrific crimes against the American people — he will now pay for those crimes by spending the rest of his life behind bars in an American prison,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi.
As Emily’s Hope reported in July of last year, the Associated Press reported that Zambada was duped into flying into the U.S., where he was arrested alongside a son of El Chapo.
U.S. officials described Zambada’s leadership as both violent and strategic, relying on corruption at all levels of Mexican government to protect cartel operations. Witnesses in multiple trials have testified that bribes ensured drug shipments could move freely, military actions were tipped off, and cartel leaders remained shielded from arrest.
“Under Zambada Garcia’s leadership, the Sinaloa Cartel engaged in a years-long war with the Juarez Cartel, a war which directly affected not just the citizens of Juarez, Mexico, but also the citizens of El Paso, Texas, with multiple residents, including at least one U.S. citizen, being kidnapped, tortured, and killed by Sinaloa Cartel members. Now, like his co-conspirator El Chapo Guzman, Zambada Garcia will pay the price for a life of lawlessness, and using the ‘whole of government’ approach employed in this case, we will continue to systematically eradicate Mexican drug cartels and bring others to justice who enrich themselves to the detriment of Americans,” said U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas.
Zambada’s sentencing is set for Jan. 13, 2026. He faces a mandatory life sentence and has agreed to forfeit $15 billion as part of the plea deal.
