{"id":59575,"date":"2025-08-25T14:09:36","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T21:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=59575"},"modified":"2025-08-25T14:09:36","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T21:09:36","slug":"drug-cartel-kingpin-el-mayo-pleads-guilty-to-drug-trafficking-and-money-laundering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=59575","title":{"rendered":"Drug Cartel Kingpin &#8220;El Mayo&#8221; Pleads Guilty to Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"141\" data-end=\"480\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><strong>NEW YORK\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"141\" data-end=\"480\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-15321 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/DEA-IMAGE-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Doctor and 18 Others Indicted for Distributing Prescription Drugs\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/DEA-IMAGE-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/DEA-IMAGE.jpg 540w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Ismael Zambada Garcia, a top leader of Mexico\u2019s Sinaloa Cartel, pleaded guilty in federal court to leading a decades-long criminal enterprise responsible for importing massive quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the United States and laundering billions of dollars in drug profits back to Mexico, officials announced Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"141\" data-end=\"480\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">The guilty plea comes weeks after US prosecutors confirmed they would not be seeking the death penalty against the 77-year-old Mexican kingpin.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"141\" data-end=\"480\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">\u201cIsmael \u2018El Mayo\u2019 Zambada led one of the world\u2019s deadliest cartels, pumping fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, and meth into our communities,\u201d said Administrator Terrance Cole of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). \u201cHis guilty plea proves no cartel boss is beyond the reach of justice. By taking him down, we are protecting American families and cutting off a pipeline of poison. DEA and our partners will not stop until every cartel network is dismantled.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"141\" data-end=\"480\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-7857 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/FBI-Logo-289x300.png\" alt=\"FBI Latest Hate Crime Report: Hate Crimes Down Slightly in America\" width=\"289\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/FBI-Logo-289x300.png 289w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/FBI-Logo.png 636w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 289px) 100vw, 289px\" \/>Zambada faces a mandatory minimum of life in prison for operating a continuing criminal enterprise and a maximum of life on racketeering charges. As part of the plea, he agreed to forfeit $15 billion. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 13, 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"482\" data-end=\"808\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Zambada, arrested in July 2024, admitted his role as a principal leader of the cartel from 1989 to 2024. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"810\" data-end=\"1193\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Prosecutors said Zambada oversaw cocaine shipments from South America, the cartel\u2019s expansion into fentanyl production using Chinese precursor chemicals, and a vast distribution and money laundering network that moved billions of dollars. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"810\" data-end=\"1193\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">He maintained control through brutal violence and systemic corruption, paying off Mexican officials and law enforcement to protect operations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"1446\" data-end=\"1532\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">The case was investigated by the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and the DEA.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEW YORK\u00a0 Ismael Zambada Garcia, a top leader of Mexico\u2019s Sinaloa Cartel, pleaded guilty in federal court to leading a decades-long criminal enterprise responsible for importing massive quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Drug Cartel Kingpin &quot;El Mayo&quot; 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