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A notorious Mexican cartel leader, once at the helm of El Chapo’s operations, has confessed to inundating the US with cocaine over a span of five decades, expressing his remorse with: “I’m sorry.”
Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, 77, pleaded guilty to drugs trafficking charges after one of the most prolific organised crime careers in history.
El Mayo was the co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel – the most powerful criminal organization in Mexico with immeasurable reach around the world.
The cartel drove a booming supply of cocaine, heroin and other drugs in the US and brought rank violence upon Mexico.
El Mayo told the Brooklyn federal court: “I apologise for all of it, and I take responsibility for my actions.”
He also apologized to anyone who has “suffered or been affected by my actions”.
Zambada established the cartel in the late 1980s alongside Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. Under their merciless leadership, it became the largest force in the global drug trade, as stated by prosecutors.
Through his guilty plea, the aging druglord has finally admitted the staggering scale of criminality that he oversaw in the Sinaloa cartel.
Its members forged relationships with cocaine producers in Colombia, imported it into Mexico and then smuggled it across the border into the States.
El Mayo acknowledged that Mexican police and military commanders were bribed by his henchmen, so the drugs could flow freely.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated Zambada’s guilty plea as a “landmark victory” and said he will die in jail, “where he belongs”.
El Mayo was finally snared in a daring FBI sting in Texas last year while landing in a private jet on El Paso airstrip.
The sought-after leader was ensnared through a scheme orchestrated by El Chapo’s son, Joaquín Guzmán López, who allegedly blamed El Mayo for his father’s capture in 2019.
Zambada has claimed he was “kidnapped” in Mexico and taken against his will to the US.
The guilty plea comes two weeks after prosecutors promised they wouldn’t seek the death penalty for El Mayo.
Zambada’s lawyer, Frank Perez, stressed after court that the plea agreement doesn’t oblige him to co-operate with government investigators.
The attorney revealed that his client was never keen on going to trial; once the death penalty was excluded, he turned his attention to acknowledging his crimes and looking ahead.
El Mayo is due to be sentenced on January 13 to life in prison.
He also faced billions of dollars in financial penalties.
During an eight-minute address to court, Zambada outlined his role in the drugs trade – all the way back to his teenage years.
He recalled planting marijuana after leaving school with a sixth-grade education in 1969.
He said he went on to sell heroin and other drugs, but especially cocaine.
From 1980 up until last year, he and his cartel were accountable for shipping at least 1.5 million kilograms of cocaine, most of which was destined for the United States, he confessed.
Prosecutors said in his indictment that he and the cartel also trafficked in fentanyl and methamphetamine.
Considered a good negotiator, Zambada was seen as the cartel’s strategist and dealmaker.
He was more involved in its day-to-day operations than the more flamboyant Guzman.
Prosecutors have said Zambada also was enmeshed in the groups violence, at one point apparently ordering the murder of his own nephew.
