The U.S. Department of Justice celebrated the guilty plea of notorious drug kingpin and cartel leader Ismael Zambada Garcia in a Brooklyn federal court on Monday. He was initially arrested in July 2024.
Known as “El Mayo” and the chief leader of the dangerous Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most harmful drug trafficking organizations in the world, Zambada Garcia pleaded guilty to “being a principal leader of a continuing criminal enterprise” and a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations charge, according to a release from the Department of Justice. He was previously charged in multiple districts throughout the country, including the Central District of California, the District of Columbia, the Eastern District of New York, and the Southern District of California, among others.
Zambada Garcia’s guilty plea validated years of suspicions of the Sinaloa Cartel’s operation in the Western Hemisphere, including a drug trafficking operation which extended from cocaine dealers in Colombia, South America, shipments of the drug to Mexico, and smuggling the product into the U.S., CNN reported. The cartel leader admitted to bribing Mexican law enforcement officers and military leaders to “operate freely” where they could have easy access to traffic drugs into the U.S.
“I recognize the great harm illegal drugs have done to the people in the United States and Mexico,” said Zambada Garcia through a Spanish-language interpreter, according to the Associated Press. “I apologize for all of it, and I take responsibility for my actions.”
Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced that Zambada Garcia would spend the rest of his life in prison. She also lauded how his arrest made the country a safer place, protecting people in the country from drugs and violent crime.
“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 Bondi. “Today marks a crucial victory in President Trump’s ongoing fight to completely eliminate foreign terrorist organizations and protect American citizens from deadly drugs and violence.”
FBI Director Kash Patel shared Bondi’s excitement for holding Zambada Garcia accountable for his crimes, which harmed many American citizens through addiction and acts of violence. Patel vowed to continue efforts to stop the Sinaloa Cartel altogether.
“Today’s plea is a proud moment for the FBI and its partners as the founders of a notoriously violent drug trafficking organization, one that engages in an array of illegal activity including murder and corruption, face the consequences of their actions,” said Patel. “Our work does not end here. We will continue to relentlessly leverage everything at our disposal in our efforts to thwart the Sinaloa Cartel and put an end to their drug trafficking operations and the carnage that goes along with it.”
Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division touted Zambada Garcia’s guilty plea as a victory that would make the nation’s “communities safer.”
“For decades, under El Mayo’s leadership, the Sinaloa Cartel made billions of dollars by importing poisonous drugs to the United States, flooding our streets with cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl,” said Galeotti. “El Mayo’s conviction is the latest milestone in the Department’s historic efforts to eliminate the harms wrought by cartels and bring their leaders to justice in American courtrooms.”
“The Criminal Division and our partners will continue our relentless pursuit of these notorious criminal organizations to ensure that they are held accountable and to make our communities safer, he added.”