Former Mexican cartel kingpin Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada pleaded guilty Monday to US drug trafficking charges, saying he was sorry for helping to flood the US with cocaine and other illicit substances. "I recognize the great harm illegal drugs have done to the people in the United States and Mexico," he said through a Spanish-language interpreter. "I apologize for all of it, and I take responsibility for my actions." Under the leadership of Zambada and Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, the Sinaloa cartel evolved from a regional player into the largest drug trafficking organization in the world, prosecutors say.
In pleading guilty, Zambada acknowledged the extent of the Sinaloa operation, including underlings who built relationships with cocaine producers in Colombia, oversaw the importation of cocaine to Mexico by boat and plane, and the smuggling of the drug across the US-Mexico border, the AP reports. He acknowledged that people working for him paid bribes to Mexican police and military commanders "so they could operate freely," going all the way back to when the cartel was just starting out. Considered a good negotiator, Zambada was seen as the cartel's strategist and dealmaker, thought to be more involved in its day-to-day doings than the more flamboyant Guzmán.
Zambada entered his plea in a Brooklyn federal court, two weeks after prosecutors said they wouldn't seek the death penalty against him. Instead, he's expecting to be sentenced Jan. 13 to life in prison. The 77-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of running a continuing criminal enterprise. He was arrested in Texas last year. Zambada had pleaded not guilty last year to a range of drug trafficking and related charges, including gun and money laundering offenses. Zambada has said he was kidnapped in Mexico and taken against his will to the US. He had often been at odds with Guzmán's sons, dubbed the Chapitos, a term that translates to "little Chapos."
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