El Mayo Pleads Guilty to Two Racketeering Charges, Agrees to Pay $15 Billion Dollars

Zambada Garcia admitted that as part of his criminal scheme he bribed police, military commanders and politicians.

Ismael El Mayo Zambada pleaded guilty to two counts of organized crime. Before Judge Brian Cogan of the Eastern District Court for New York, the Mexican national formalized a plea agreement he negotiated with the prosecution to avoid going to trial, gain some procedural benefits, and also open the opportunity to become a protected witness for the United States.

As part of his agreement, he also agreed to pay $15 billion.

What did “El Mayo” say during the hearing?

During the hearing, which lasted one hour and 45 minutes, the Mexican citizen read a document in which he personally admitted to leading the Sinaloa Cartel from 1989 to 2024.

“I began getting involved in illegal drugs in 1969, when I was 19 years old and planted marijuana for the first time,” said the Mexican national, who admitted to having trafficked at least 1.5 million kilos of cocaine, mainly to the United States.

“I also had a large number of armed men at my service… ultimately, they were all under my control,” Zambada García continued, “many members of my organization were also killed.”

On the other hand, he also admitted that as part of his criminal scheme, he bribed authorities to obtain safe passage for his drugs: “police, military commanders, and politicians.”

Finally, El Mayo Zambada, one of Mexico’s most powerful drug lords, apologized.

“I apologize to all those who have suffered or been affected by my actions,” the Mexican concluded.

“El Mayo” will return to court in 2026

Judge Cogan ordered Zambada to return to court on January 13, 2026, at 8:00 a.m., to be sentenced. Unless the prosecution requests otherwise, the Mexican national faces life in prison.

Zambada García faced 17 charges in the New York criminal case, and seven additional charges pending in El Paso, Texas, were added as part of his plea bargain.

According to the main investigation, at least between 1989 and 2024, Zambada led a series of operations for the importation and distribution of tons of drugs such as marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl, generating billions of dollars in profits.

His contacts, according to Washington, extended to Central and South America, Mexico, and the United States, ensuring safe routes for the passage of drugs and the arrival of their products on the streets of the United States. His power, among other things, lay in his ability to bribe authorities at various levels of government in Mexico.

“Zambada García also expanded the power and influence of the Sinaloa Cartel by generating millions of dollars each year in corruption payments and by conducting regular campaigns of brutal violence, including revenge killings allegedly committed at his direction, as recently as weeks before his arrest.”

The United States claims that the Sinaloa Cartel became the most powerful Mexican cartel thanks to El Mayo’s leadership, working side by side with his compadre, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known as El Chapo.

The Sinaloa Cartel spent millions of dollars annually on corruption payments.

His criminal case is closely related to two high-profile cases that went to trial in the same court: that of El Chapo Guzmán and that of former Mexican Secretary of Public Security, Genaro García Luna, one example of the level of contacts El Mayo maintained.

“From corrupt local police officers who escorted drugs through Mexico to corrupt officials who informed the cartel about military actions, thwarted arrest operations, and consulted with the cartel on procedures and investigations against them. The cartel spent millions of dollars annually on the defendant’s orders for corruption payments.”

Although less well-known, the Mayo Zambada money laundering networks operated through several front companies in Mexico, operated by various agents serving Zambada García himself, such as the Ojeda brothers Héctor, Martín, and Sergio Avendaño.

El Mayo’s tentacles extended to various US states, including California, Illinois, Washington, Texas, Florida, and New York. The latter was the location of the main indictment for which he was prosecuted after falling into a trap designed by Joaquín Guzmán López, alias El Güero, son of El Chapo Guzmán, to deliver him into the hands of Washington.

“I was abducted in Mexico through physical coercion and deception. I was subsequently forcibly transferred from Mexican territory to the United States of America by a Mexican individual,” the Mexican citizen said in a letter released by his attorney, Frank Pérez, a few days after his arrest in New Mexico.

Criminal Career and Relationships with Other Kingpins

Ismael Zambada has been a central player in Mexican drug trafficking since the 1970s and 1980s. His career has linked him to other high-profile drug traffickers, including Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Rafael Caro Quintero, Amado Carrillo Fuentes, and Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, with whom he founded the Sinaloa Cartel.

However, Zambada’s first steps in drug trafficking were not with these kingpins, but rather with Antonio Cruz Vázquez, known as “El Niko,” a Cuban drug trafficker who settled in Culiacán, Sinaloa, after spending several years in prison in the United States for drug-related offenses.

During this time, Zambada learned the logistics of drug trafficking, how to handle illicit money, and the importance of maintaining relationships with both local and federal authorities.

Furthermore, he understood the need to gain the acceptance of the local population to protect his operations, a strategy that allowed him to consolidate his influence in Sinaloa until his arrest in 2024.

After El Niko’s capture in 1978, Zambada took on a more prominent role in drug trafficking to the United States, inheriting his brother-in-law’s contacts and routes and consolidating ties with leaders of the Guadalajara cartel, where he met Joaquín Guzmán.

The association with Guzmán Loera led to the founding of the Sinaloa Cartel, which for decades became one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Mexico, with transnational operations.

How was he arrested?

Zambada’s arrest in July 2024 marked a milestone in the fight against drug trafficking, given that his capture occurred after Los Chapitos, his own criminal family, handed him over to US authorities.

The prosecution reflected the cooperation between internal cartel members and U.S. law enforcement agencies, amid international pressure on drug trafficking operations from Mexico to the United States.

With the guilty plea, Ismael Zambada faces a trial that will consolidate the charges against him in multiple U.S. jurisdictions, closing a key chapter in the history of drug trafficking in North America and the legal battle against one of the most emblematic figures of Mexican organized crime.

Source: Milenio