Two Sinaloa Cartel leaders arrested for human trafficking are allegedly arrested
The Justice Department has released charges against two suspects in the Sinaloa cartel.
NEW YORK – Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, accused of the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel, is expected to plead guilty to US drug trafficking charges, court records showed on August 18.
Zambada, who is in the ’70s, is scheduled to appear in federal court in Brooklyn on August 25th due to a change in judicial hearing before US district judge Judge Brian Kogan. He had previously pleaded not guilty to accusations originating from his decades, allegedly leading the Sinaloa Cartel along with imprisoned Kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
The notice last week that Zambada was expected to change his plea after the Justice Department said he would not seek the death penalty from Zambada or Rafael Karo Quintero was another Septuarian claim that the Mexican drug lord was allegedly facing our accusations.
Guzman has been sentenced to life in Colorado’s largest security prison.
Zambada’s attorney Frank Perez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Zambada was arrested in July 2024 along with one of Guzman’s sons, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, after a plane landed on a small runway in New Mexico. Perez said Guzman Lopez had invited Zambada.
Guzman Lopez pleaded not guilty to US drug trafficking charges. US prosecutors said they would not seek his death penalty if convicted.
Last week, Mexico sent more than 20 cartel members to the United States amid increasing pressure from Mexican President Donald Trump to dismantle the country’s powerful drug groups. Mexico says it has been guaranteed by the Justice Department that it will not seek the death penalty.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York, edited by Noeleen Walder and Leslie Adler)
