Former Sinaloa cartel boss 'El Mayo' pleads guilty and confesses in court: I apologize for flooding the US with drugs

Former Mexican cartel boss Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada pleaded guilty Monday to drug trafficking charges in the U.S., saying he regretted helping flood the U.S. with cocaine and other illegal substances.

“ I recognize the great harm that illegal drugs have caused to people in the United States and Mexico, ” he said through a Spanish-language interpreter. “ I apologize for all of this and take responsibility for my actions.”

Under the leadership of Zambada and Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, prosecutors say the Sinaloa cartel evolved from a regional player into the largest drug trafficking organization in the world.

In pleading guilty, Zambada acknowledged the vast scale of the Sinaloa network, including subordinates who built relationships with cocaine producers in Colombia, oversaw the importation of cocaine into Mexico by ship and plane, and smuggled drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border. He admitted that people working for him paid bribes to Mexican police and military commanders "so they could operate freely," going back to when the cartel was just getting started.

Zambada entered his plea in federal court in Brooklyn two weeks after prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty against him. Instead, he expects to be sentenced on January 13 to life in prison.

The 77-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of operating a continuing criminal enterprise. He will be sentenced to a mandatory prison sentence, with sentencing set for Jan. 13.

Zambada had pleaded not guilty last year to a series of drug trafficking charges, including weapons offenses and money laundering.

Prosecutors say Zambada headed a violent, highly militarized cartel with a private security force armed with powerful weapons and a group of "sicarios," or hired killers, who carried out murders, kidnappings and torture.

Guzmán was sentenced to life in prison after his conviction in the same federal court in Brooklyn in 2019. His two sons, who led a faction of the cartel, also face federal charges.

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