El Mayo Pleads Guilty, Admits to Bribing Mexican Politicians, Police, and Military Commanders

 "Socalj" for Borderland Beat

"For 50 years, I led a large criminal network...From the beginning until the moment of my capture, I paid bribes to police officers, military personnel, and politicians in Mexico," stated "El Mayo" Zambada today in a New York federal courtroom. He also agreed as part of the plea deal to handover $15 billion in assets.

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada , a longtime drug trafficking leader in Mexico, pleaded guilty in a federal court in New York to creating and directing the Sinaloa Cartel.

"El Mayo" addressed the court to explain his crimes in his own words. "I started getting involved with illegal drugs in 1969, when I was 19." He started by trafficking marijuana. "I went on to sell other drugs, especially cocaine." This puts his age at 75 years old, something that has been contested by US authorities and online sources.

He estimated he trafficked 1.5 million kilos of cocaine during his career, "most of which went to the U.S." "I created a criminal network that I led, called the Sinaloa cartel. The organization I led promoted corruption in my home country by paying police, military commanders and politicians that allowed us to operate freely. It goes back to the very beginning when I was a young man starting out and it continued for all those years."

Zambada waived all his rights to trial and appeal. In front of Judge Brian Cogan, he said he did so because "the time has come to acknowledge half a century of criminal activity."

El Mayo ended by saying sorry for "the human toll of the violence" that he ordered over the years. "I take responsibility for all of it and I apologize to everyone affected by my actions."

Zambada García will be sentenced on January 13, 2026.

"This is a historic day. With this guilty plea, the Sinaloa Cartel has been decapitated," says the prosecutor for the Eastern District of NY, Joseph Nocella, about El Mayo Zambada. 

Meanwhile, the homicide rate in Sinaloa has risen 400% since his July 2024 kidnapping/arrest as the sons of the Sinaloa Cartel founders battle it out.

“My client is also aware of the impact this case will have on his home state of Sinaloa. He calls on the people of Sinaloa to remain calm, exercise restraint, and avoid violence ,” read his lawyer Frank Pérez.

Frank Pérez, lawyer for Mayo, assured that his client neither collaborated nor will collaborate with U.S. authorities. In a written statement, he says: “This is not about a cooperation agreement, and I can categorically state that there is no agreement under which he is cooperating with the Government of the United States or with any other government.”

Mexico's Response

President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo reported this morning that, despite the plea agreement reached by Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada , one of the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, the Mexican government still does not have precise information about his capture, which occurred on July 25, 2024.

"They have not provided any new information to the Attorney General's Office, the Ministry of Security, or Foreign Affairs," the president stated.

Sheinbaum asserted that the drug trafficker's statements to the United States Attorney's Office must be subject to evidence and procedures confirming his connection to Mexico.

"Whatever I'm going to declare, and if the United States Attorney's Office raises it, any issue related to Mexico, must be substantiated," he stressed.

He added that the Attorney General's Office (FGR) will be responsible for handling the matter, as "there is a procedure," he said.

Sources Keegan Hamilton, Ioan Grillo, Infobae, Infobae, DOJ

Categories: El Mayo, Guilty Plea, Ismael Zambada García, sinaloa cartel