Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García, co-founder of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, pleaded guilty on Monday in a federal courtroom in Brooklyn, admitting he oversaw one of the world’s most prolific drug-trafficking enterprises for more than five decades. The 77-year-old confessed to one count of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise and one count of racketeering conspiracy. U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan set sentencing for Jan. 13 2026, when Zambada faces a mandatory life term. As part of the agreement, he will forfeit US$15 billion; prosecutors earlier confirmed they would not seek the death penalty. Reading a five-minute statement, Zambada acknowledged bribing Mexican police, soldiers and politicians and ordering violence to protect shipments of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl. U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi hailed the plea as “a landmark victory,” saying Zambada “will die in a U.S. federal prison.” His lawyer, Frank Pérez, stressed the deal contains no cooperation clause. Zambada’s arrest at a Texas airfield in July 2024 ended decades as Mexico’s most elusive trafficker. His plea follows the 2019 life sentence of former partner Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and the July guilty plea of Guzmán’s son Ovidio, marking another step in U.S. efforts to dismantle the Sinaloa network.