Lengthy-elusive Mexican drug lord Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada pleads responsible in U.S. : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2250+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F60%2Fdc%2F32edaaba484e9d3b1a506a974ab4%2Fap25237713399915.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2250+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F60%2Fdc%2F32edaaba484e9d3b1a506a974ab4%2Fap25237713399915.jpg" class="img" alt=""El Mayo" Zambada speaks to Judge Brian Cogan (not pictured) in Brooklyn federal court, as his defense attorney Frank Perez looks on, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, in New York." fetchpriority="high"/> "El Mayo" Zambada speaks to Choose Brian Cogan (not pictured) in Brooklyn federal courtroom, as his protection lawyer Frank Perez seems to be on, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, in New York. Jane Rosenberg/AP cover caption

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Jane Rosenberg/AP NEW YORK — Former Mexican cartel kingpin Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada will spend the remainder of his life in jail after pleading responsible Monday to U.S. drug trafficking prices and saying he was sorry for serving to flood the U.S. with cocaine, heroin and different illicit substances and for fueling lethal violence in Mexico.

"I acknowledge the good hurt unlawful medication have accomplished to the individuals of the US, of Mexico, and elsewhere," Zambada, 75, stated by a Spanish-language interpreter. "I take accountability for my function in all of it and I apologize to everybody who has suffered or been affected by my actions."

Beneath Zambada's management and that of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, the Sinaloa cartel advanced from a regional participant into the most important drug trafficking group on the planet, prosecutors say.

"Culpable," Zambada stated, utilizing the Spanish phrase for "responsible," as he entered his plea in a Brooklyn courtroom, about 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) from Mexico's Sinaloa state.

He acknowledged the extent of the Sinaloa operation, together with underlings who constructed relationships with cocaine producers in Colombia, oversaw importing cocaine to Mexico by boat and aircraft and smuggling the drug throughout the U.S.-Mexico border. He stated the cartel raked in a whole lot of thousands and thousands of {dollars} a 12 months and admitted that folks working for him paid bribes to Mexican police and navy commanders "so they might function freely."

U.S. Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi flew to New York to herald Zambada's responsible plea as a "landmark victory," telling reporters at a information convention that he "will die in a U.S. federal jail, the place he belongs."

"This man, 'El Mayo,' was dwelling like a king," Bondi stated. "Now he is dwelling like a legal for the remainder of his life."

Bondi's go to to Brooklyn underscored President Donald Trump's anti-cartel campaign. His administration has declared drug cartels to be terrorist organizations, positioned navy belongings off Venezuela and compelled the Mexican authorities handy over a number of dozen high-ranking cartel officers for prosecution.

The kingpin's legacy Sought by U.S. legislation enforcement for greater than 20 years, Zambada was arrested in Texas final 12 months, on the finish of the Biden administration, when the drug lord arrived in a non-public aircraft with one in all Guzmán's sons, Joaquín Guzmán López. Zambada says he was kidnapped in Mexico and brought in opposition to his will to the U.S.

His arrest, together with that of Guzmán López, touched off lethal combating in his dwelling state of Sinaloa between rival cartel factions, pitting his loyalists in opposition to backers of Guzmán's sons, dubbed the Chapitos, or "little Chapos."

Thought-about a great negotiator, Zambada was seen because the cartel's strategist and dealmaker who was extra concerned in its day-to-day doings than the flamboyant Guzmán. Prosecutors have stated Zambada was enmeshed within the group's violence, at one level ordering the homicide of his personal nephew.

Within the Sinaloan capital of Culiacan, useless our bodies lie in streets or generally seem hanging from freeway underpasses. Companies shutter early as a result of individuals do not wish to be out after darkish. Colleges grind to a halt throughout sudden bursts of battle. Individuals starting from social media influencers to animal caregivers have been touched by the bloodshed.

Prosecutors promised to not search the dying penalty Zambada's plea got here two weeks after prosecutors stated they would not search the dying penalty.

His lawyer, Frank Perez, careworn after courtroom that the plea settlement does not obligate Zambada to cooperate with authorities investigators. The lawyer stated his shopper by no means actually wished to go to trial, and that when the dying penalty was off the desk, his "focus shifted to accepting accountability and shifting ahead."

Bondi famous Mexico's opposition to the dying penalty, which is a consider its willingness to extradite suspects to the U.S. Though Zambada wasn't extradited, she alluded to the nations' understanding that "we can't search the dying penalty" for individuals who are.

Zambada is because of be sentenced Jan. 13 to life in jail. He additionally faces billions of {dollars} in monetary penalties.

Zambada describes his drug commerce Zambada appeared momentarily unsteady as he arrived in courtroom; a marshal grabbed his arm to direct him to his seat.

As Choose Brian M. Cogan described the plea settlement, the bearded ex-Sinaloa boss sat attentively, at occasions brushing his proper hand by his white hair.

Then, in an eight-minute speech, Zambada traced his involvement with unlawful medication to his teenage years, when — after leaving college with a sixth-grade training — he first planted marijuana in 1969. He stated he went on to promote heroin and different medication, however particularly cocaine. From 1980 till final 12 months, he and his cartel had been chargeable for transporting at the very least 1.5 million kilograms of cocaine, "most of which went to the US," he stated.

Prosecutors stated in his indictment that he and the cartel additionally trafficked in fentanyl and methamphetamine.

Zambada pleaded responsible to prices of partaking in a seamless legal enterprise between 1989 and 2024 and racketeering conspiracy, which encompasses involvement in a lot of crimes from 2000 to 2012.