The U.S. Department of Justice celebrated the guilty plea of notorious drug kingpin and cartel leader Ismael Zambada Garcia in a Brooklyn federal court on Monday. He was initially arrested in July 2024.

Known as “El Mayo” and the chief leader of the dangerous Sinaloa Cartel , one of the most harmful drug trafficking organizations in the world, Zambada Garcia pleaded guilty to “being a principal leader of a continuing criminal enterprise” and a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations charge, according to a release from the Department of Justice . He was previously charged in multiple districts throughout the country , including the Central District of California, the District of Columbia, the Eastern District of New York, and the Southern District of California, among others

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