--- title: "Former Mexican drug kingpin Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada pleads guilty to US charges" description: "NEW YORK, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Former Mexican drug kingpin Ismael \"El Mayo\" Zambada admitted in a U.S. courtroom on Monday to ordering murders and shipping millions of kilograms of cocaine during his decades-long leadership of the violent Sinaloa cartel." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "Newsdeck" author: "Reuters" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-08-25-former-mexican-drug-kingpin-ismael-el-mayo-zambada-pleads-guilty-to-us-charges/" published: "2025-08-25T20:57:29" updated: "2025-08-25T20:57:30" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 493 --- # Former Mexican drug kingpin Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada pleads guilty to US charges > NEW YORK, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Former Mexican drug kingpin Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada admitted in a U.S. courtroom on Monday to ordering murders and shipping millions of kilograms of cocaine during his decades-long leadership of the violent Sinaloa cartel. By Reuters · Published 25 August 2025, 22:57 SAST · Updated 25 August 2025, 22:57 SAST ## Key points - In a plot twist worthy of a telenovela, Sinaloa cartel kingpin Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada has confessed to a lifetime of crime, including ordering murders and flooding the U.S. with drugs, but will avoid the death penalty and instead face a cozy life sentence in 2026—talk about a cushy retirement plan! - Zambada pleads guilty to running the Sinaloa cartel, admitting to ordering murders and trafficking massive amounts of cocaine. - The Justice Department will not pursue the death penalty for Zambada or fellow drug lord Caro Quintero. - Zambada faces life imprisonment, with sentencing scheduled for January 2026; he is not cooperating with authorities. - The cartel leader's criminal empire reportedly involved bribing officials and causing numerous deaths, as he expressed remorse in court. ## Content - Zambada admits to ordering murders, shipping cocaine for Sinaloa cartel - Justice Department will not seek death penalty for Zambada or Caro Quintero - Zambada's sentencing set for January 2026, not cooperating with authorities By Luc Cohen and Nate Raymond Zambada, 75, faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment after pleading guilty in federal court in Brooklyn to charges that he engaged in a racketeering conspiracy and ran a continuing criminal enterprise that prosecutors said was responsible for flooding the U.S. with cocaine, heroin and fentanyl. Those charges stemmed from his decades-long role leading the Sinaloa cartel alongside imprisoned drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who is [serving a life sentence](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AKCN1UE2GH&linkedFromStory=true) in a maximum security prison in Colorado. Zambada agreed to plead guilty after the Justice Department this month said it would not seek the death penalty for Zambada or [Rafael Caro Quintero](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N3PI1IK&linkedFromStory=true), another septuagenarian alleged Mexican drug lord facing U.S. charges. Zambada wore a blue prison-issued T-shirt over an orange long-sleeved shirt and walked with a slight limp as he entered U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan's courtroom, which was packed with members of the Drug Enforcement Administration and other U.S. law enforcement agencies. Sporting gray hair and a full beard, he smiled at his defense lawyers before entering his guilty plea. Speaking softly through a Spanish interpreter, Zambada recounted a life of crime that he said began when he planted a marijuana plant in 1969 at the age of 19. He said the Sinaloa cartel under his leadership shipped more than 1.5 million kilograms (3.3 million pounds) of cocaine, raking in hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Zambada said the cartel bribed Mexican politicians and police to protect its drugs, and said he ordered armed men under his command to murder rivals. "Many innocent people also died," Zambada said, reading from a prepared statement in Spanish at a quick pace. "I apologize to everyone who has suffered or has been affected by my actions." LIFE IMPRISONMENT Zambada was arrested in July 2024 alongside Joaquin Guzman Lopez, one of Guzman's sons, after the plane in which they were traveling landed at a small airstrip in New Mexico. Zambada's lawyer has said Guzman Lopez [kidnapped](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N3JK00F&linkedFromStory=true) Zambada, which the Guzman family lawyer has [denied](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N3JO027&linkedFromStory=true). Guzman Lopez has [pleaded not guilty](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL6N3RZ0QW&linkedFromStory=true) to U.S. drug trafficking charges. U.S. prosecutors have said they would not seek the death penalty for him if convicted. Mexico this month sent more than two dozen suspected cartel members to the U.S., amid rising pressure from President [Donald Trump](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/donald-trump/) on Mexico to dismantle the country's powerful drug organizations. Mexico has said it received assurances from the Justice Department that it would not seek the death penalty for them. In a statement, Zambada's lawyer Frank Perez said his client was not cooperating with U.S. authorities. Cogan set Zambada's sentencing for January 13, 2026. (Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York and Nate Raymond in BostonEditing by Noeleen Walder, Rod Nickel and Matthew Lewis)