Image source, Reuters
-
- Author, Darío Brooks
- Author's title, BBC News World
Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the drug lord that for decades led the powerful Cartel of Sinaloa with his partner Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, declared himself guilty on Monday of drug trafficking charges in a court in New York.
At a scheduled hearing to change his non -guilty statement to guilty, the 77 -year -old Mexican also claimed to have bribed to police, Mexican military and political controls for three decades to facilitate his criminal activities.
Judge Brian Cogan scheduled the hearing of his sentence for January 13, 2026. He also issued a huge repair fine of US $ 15,000 million.
Zambada was arrested by federal US authorities near El Paso, Texas, on July 25, 2024. The veteran drug trafficker alleges who was taken against his will to US territory through a hoax of one of the children of “El Chapo”.
Until before that, he had never been arrested, unlike his partner Joaquín Guzmán, who was captured twice in Mexico and currently serving a life sentence in a prison of maximum US security.
The change of Zambada's guilt declaration comes after the Prosecutor's Office announced a few days ago that he will not ask for the death penalty against the defendant.
In a subsequent press conference, the US attorney general, PAM Bondi, said this was a “historical victory” for US authorities.
“'May' will spend the rest of his life among bars. He will die in a federal prison in the United States, where he must be,” Bondi said.
“'May was one of the most prolific and powerful drug traffickers in the world. His partner was' El Chapo'. They were co -founders of the Sinaloa cartel. They brutally murdered multiple people and flooded our country with drugs. His reign of terror is over,” he added
Image source, EPA
What did Zambada declared?
At the audience on Monday, Zambada appeared with a blue prison uniform and orange t -shirt, with certain difficulties in walking, the agency said Reuters.
Upon receiving the word, with a low voice and in Spanish he delivered a statement in which he assured that his life in drug trafficking began in 1969, when he was 19 years old.
He admitted that under his leadership in the Sinaloa cartel, more than 1.5 million kilograms of cocaine were trafficked, which generated hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
“I recognize the great damage that illegal drugs have caused to the peoples of the United States, Mexico and other places,” he said.
He then mentioned that his poster bribed police, military and political controls to protect his organization in their criminal activities, he said Reuters.
He also acknowledged having ordered hitmen to murder their rivals.
Image source, Reuters
However, Zambada's lawyer, Frank Pérez, told reporters when he left the audience that his client was not cooperating with the US authorities and that “at all” he intends to incriminate someone.
He pointed out that the reference he made to bribed authorities has already been subject to other drug traffickers processes: “All that he said is already in other judgments, he only said what was necessary. He is not going to talk about anyone,” Pérez told reporters.
“The information of 'El Mayo' Zambada stays with 'El Mayo' Zambada,” he added.
He also assured that his client will not obtain benefits for his change in guilt declaration and acknowledged that there is no opportunity to be released.
Image source, Getty Images
In her message to the press, the attorney general said that the Sinaloa poster enjoyed impunity thanks to the bribes.
“'El Mayo' operated with impunity in the highest levels of the world of Mexican drug trafficking paying bribes to government officials and agents of the law. He controlled corrupt officials who protected their workers and their drug loads that traveled from Mexico to our country,” he said.
Earlier, the president of Mexico said that any Zambada statement would have to be accompanied by evidence and be processed through the formal roads.
“What is going to declare – and if the United States Prosecutor's Office raises it -, any issue that had to do with Mexico has to go through evidence and the Attorney General's Office, there is a procedure,” said Sheinbaum.
The capture of Zambada and his accusations of betrayal of the faction of the children of “El Chapo” generated a strong confrontation in the poster, which has caused almost 2,000 dead and hundreds of missing only in the state of Sinaloa.

Subscribe here To our new newsletter to receive every Friday a selection of our best content of the week.
And remember that you can receive notifications in our app. Download the latest version and act.