BROOKLYN — For greater than 4 a long time, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada dominated from the shadows. Whereas different prime Mexican drug traffickers have been killed or extradited to america to face justice, Zambada remained comfortably ensconced atop his empire, exporting tons of cocaine, meth, heroin and fentanyl across the globe from his stronghold within the Pacific state of Sinaloa.
Lengthy after the downfall of his Sinaloa cartel accomplice, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, Zambada continued to function with impunity, all the time a step forward of the legislation — till ultimately it caught as much as him, too.
Now the query is whether or not he’ll take others down with him.
Zambada, 75, will mark a last chapter Monday afternoon in his legendary legal profession when he’s set to seem earlier than a federal decide in Brooklyn and plead responsible to an array of expenses for main a “persevering with legal enterprise” from the late Nineteen Eighties till his arrest final 12 months. He admitted to cash laundering, kidnapping, homicide and drug conspiracies.
Zamabada’s beautiful downfall started final July when he arrived on a personal jet at a small airport close to El Paso, Texas. Within the immedate aftermath, rumors swirled that Zambada might have orchestrated his give up to be able to endure medical remedy or reunite along with his brother and several other sons who’re believed to be dwelling below witness safety after pleading responsible and cooperating with U.S. authorities to resolve their very own legal instances.
Zambada, nevertheless, has vehemently denied that his arrival within the U.S. was prearranged. A number of weeks after he was taken into custody, he alleged he was arrange and kidnapped by one among El Chapo’s sons, Joaquín Guzmán López, a pacesetter of the cartel faction generally known as Los Chapitos, or the Little Chapos.
Zambada claimed in a letter launched by his lawyer that he was lured to what he thought could be a gathering between Sinaloa’s governor and one other outstanding politician, solely to be ambushed, zip-tied, pressured onto the aircraft by Guzmán López and delivered to U.S. authorities.
Guzmán López, 39, is going through his personal federal case in Chicago, the place he has pleaded not responsible to drug and conspiracy expenses. His youthful brother, Ovidio Guzmán, not too long ago pleaded responsible to comparable expenses, with courtroom filings revealing that he has agreed to cooperate with U.S. investigators.
A mugshot of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, launched by U.S. authorities in the course of the trial of his longtime accomplice within the Sinaloa Cartel, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
(U.S. Division of Justice)
There isn’t a indication that Zambada has a cooperation settlement. However his household’s historical past, mixed with the truth that he has agreed to plead responsible somewhat than take his case to trial, is fueling hypothesis that he could possibly be ready to spill secrets and techniques about high-level corruption.
Paul Craine, the highest official in Mexico for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration from 2012 to 2017, mentioned of Zambada: “He is aware of greater than anyone.”
Craine, who retired from the DEA now runs a personal safety agency, mentioned it’s unlikely that federal prosecutors would ever comply with a deal that provides the kingpin something lower than life in jail.
Zambada was already spared the dying penalty, however the authorities may dangle different advantages, he mentioned, equivalent to relocating members of the family to america for his or her security or permitting him to serve his time someplace cushier than the Colorado “supermax” jail the place El Chapo and others deemed excessive safety dangers are held in close to complete isolation.
Zambada, Craine mentioned, has data about “40 years of the highest management of the army and the federal government [in Mexico] that he was instantly paying and had co-opted.”
“He’s the godfather,” Craine mentioned. “He’s the consistency throughout every part.”
Zambada’s case is taking part in out throughout a fragile second in U.S.-Mexico relations, with President Trump utilizing tariffs as a cudgel to power motion towards the Sinaloa cartel and others answerable for delivery fentanyl and different medicine north throughout the Rio Grande. Trump designated Zambada’s group and others as terrorist organizations earlier this 12 months, and has floated the opportunity of the U.S. army taking motion on the Mexican aspect of the border.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has sought to appease Trump by handing over dozens of reputed high-ranking cartel figures for prosecution by U.S. authorities, however Craine mentioned these choices is probably not sufficient.
“There’s extra worth now in with the ability to goal a high-level corrupt legal political determine than there may be within the greatest drug trafficker in Mexico,” he mentioned.
Different former federal legislation enforcement officers echoed that evaluation. Adam Braverman, a former U.S. lawyer in San Diego who oversaw the indictments of Zambada and several other of his sons, known as Monday’s responsible plea “a monumental day for the Division of Justice.”
Braverman, who now works in non-public apply, mentioned if Zambada have been to cooperate, merely giving up different cartel figures wouldn’t be sufficient to make it definitely worth the discount.
“If you’re on the prime of the chain, there’s no one else to cooperate towards,” he mentioned. “You’re speaking about generals, governors — probably presidents of Mexico.”
Joaquín Guzmán Lopez (left), a son of the Sinaloa Cartel chief generally known as “El Chapo,” and longtime cartel boss Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada (Proper) in partially redacted images launched by the Mexican authorities following their arrests in El Paso, Texas, in 2024.
(Authorities of Mexico)
Zambada claimed in his letter final 12 months that he was invited to a gathering close to Sinaloa’s capital Culiacán, the place he anticipated to assist mediate a dispute between the town’s former mayor, Héctor Melesio Cuén, and his political rival, Sinaloa’s present governor, Rubén Rocha Moya.
Melesio Cuén turned up shot to dying on the day of Zambada’s arrest. Rocha Moya, a Morena occasion member, has denied any data of the kidnapping plot, pointing to flight information that present he took a household journey to Los Angeles because the occasions have been taking part in out.
Mexican federal authorities have cited a number of suspicious irregularities within the investigation into Melesio Cuén’s killing by Sinaloan state authorities, together with the abrupt cremation of his physique.
With tensions already working excessive, Guillermo Valdes Castellanos, a former head of the nationwide intelligence company that’s Mexico’s equal of the CIA, mentioned Zambada’s plea means a few of Mexico’s political elites should now be sweating bullets.
“[The Americans] are going to focus on receiving details about all the politicians who protected [El Mayo], who helped him from the military, the police, and so forth.,” he mentioned. “The truth that he might have extra strong info to accuse the Mexican politicians and authorities concerned is what’s making individuals very nervous right here.”
