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{{Short description|Mexican drug lord (born 1948)}}
'''Ismael Zambada García''' (born [[1948]]), also known as ''El Mayo Zambada'', is an alleged [[Mexico|Mexican]] [[drug lord]]. Zambada Garcia is a native of the [[Mexican state|state]] of [[Sinaloa]].
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Redirect-distinguish|El Mayo|E. L. Mayo}}
{{family name hatnote|Zambada|García|lang=Spanish}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Ismael Mario Zambada García
| image =
| caption = [[United States Department of State|U.S. Department of State]] reward poster of Ismael Zambada, issued September 2021
| birth_name = Ismael Mario Zambada García
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1948|01|01}}<ref name="rewards"/>
| birth_place = [[El Alamo, Culiacán, Sinaloa]], Mexico<ref>{{cite news |last=Flores |first=Linaloe R. |title=Cuna de narcos se hunde en la miseria |url=http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/estados/79633.html |access-date=4 October 2012 |newspaper=[[El Universal (Mexico City)]] |date=20 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121207141956/http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/estados/79633.html |archive-date=7 December 2012 |url-status=live |language=es }}</ref>
| other_names = Mayo,<ref>{{cite news |last=González |first=María De la Luz |title=Detienen al hijo de El Mayo Zambada |url=http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/584798.html |access-date=4 October 2012 |newspaper=[[El Universal (Mexico City)|El Universal]] |date=19 March 2009 |agency=[[Mexico City]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008161039/http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/584798.html |archive-date=8 October 2012 |url-status=dead |language=es }}</ref> M-Z,<ref name=mayoperdera>{{cite news |last=Scherer |first=Julio |title=El Mayo dice que Calderón perderá la guerra antinarco |url=http://www.informador.com.mx/mexico/2010/190925/6/el-mayo-dice-que-calderon-perdera-la-guerra-antinarco.htm |access-date=4 October 2012 |newspaper=[[El Informador (Mexico)]] |date=4 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420185946/http://www.informador.com.mx/mexico/2010/190925/6/el-mayo-dice-que-calderon-perdera-la-guerra-antinarco.htm |archive-date=20 April 2012 |url-status=live |language=es }}</ref> Padrino,<ref name=mayoperdera/> el Señor
| occupation = Ex-Leader of [[Sinaloa Cartel]]
| predecessor = [[Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán|Joaquin Guzmán Loera]]
| successor = [[Ismael Zambada Sicairos]]{{Citation needed |date=October 2024}}
| conviction_status = Incarcerated, entered guilty plea and is awaiting sentencing
| partners = [[Juan José Esparragoza Moreno]] and [[Héctor Luis Palma Salazar]]
| spouse = Rosario Niebla Cardoza
| children = {{Collapsible list
| title = At least 8
| 1 = * {{ill|Vicente Zambada Niebla}}, alias "El Vicentillo"
| 2 = * Ismael Zambada Imperial, alias "Mayito Gordo"
| 3 = * [[Serafín Zambada Ortiz]], alias "Sera"
| 4 = * Ismael Zambada Sicairos, alias ""El Mayito Flaco"
| 5 = * María Teresa Zambada Niebla
| 6 = * Monica del Rosario Zambada Niebla
| 7 = * Modesta Zambada Niebla
| 8 = * Antonio Zambada
}}
| reward_amount =
}}
'''Ismael Mario Zambada García''' (born 1 January 1948),<ref name="rewards">{{Cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/inl/narc/rewards/115360.htm|title=Narcotics Rewards Program: Ismael Zambada-Garcia|year=2009|publisher=U.S. Department of State|access-date=26 August 2009|archive-date=6 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806164437/https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/inl/narc/rewards/115360.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> also known as '''El Mayo''', is a Mexican former [[drug lord]] and top leader of the [[Sinaloa Cartel]], an international [[Organized crime|crime syndicate]] based in the Mexican state of [[Sinaloa]]. Before he assumed leadership of the entire cartel, he allegedly served as the [[Logistics|logistical coordinator]] for its Zambada García faction, which has overseen the [[Illegal drug trade in the United States|trafficking]] of [[cocaine]] and [[heroin]] into [[Chicago]] and other US cities by [[aircraft]], [[narcosub]]s, [[container ship]]s, [[go-fast boat]]s, [[fishing vessel]]s, [[bus]]es, [[Railcar|rail cars]], [[Semi-trailer truck|tractor trailers]], and [[Car|automobiles]].<ref name=Santiagoproffer>{{cite web |title=United States of America v. Jesus Vicente Zambada-Niebla |url=https://www.wired.com/images_blogs/dangerroom/2011/11/show_temp-3.pl-1.pdf |publisher=[[United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois]] |access-date=4 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617003616/http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/dangerroom/2011/11/show_temp-3.pl-1.pdf |archive-date=17 June 2012 |url-status=dead |date=11 October 2011 |via=[[Wired (website)|Wired]]}}</ref>
 
Until his arrest in July 2024, he had never been arrested or incarcerated. He was arrested in [[El Paso, Texas]], United States, and reported to be in US custody on 25 July 2024.<ref name=Reuters2024>{{Cite news |last=Jorgic |first=Drazen |date=July 25, 2024 |title=Mexican drug lord 'El Mayo' is in U.S. custody, sources say |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexican-drug-lord-el-mayo-is-us-custody-sources-say-2024-07-25/ |work=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Feuer |first1=Alan |last2=Kitroeff |first2=Natalie |date=July 25, 2024 |title=Two Top Mexican Cartel Leaders Are Arrested by U.S. Authorities |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/25/world/americas/mexico-cartel-ismael-zambada-garcia-joaquin-guzman-lopez.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726003432/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/25/world/americas/mexico-cartel-ismael-zambada-garcia-joaquin-guzman-lopez.html |archive-date=July 26, 2024 |access-date=July 25, 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He was arraigned in a [[Brooklyn]] based federal court on September 13, 2024.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/ismael-el-mayo-zambada-garcia-co-founder-sinaloa-cartel-arraigned-brooklyn-international|title=Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia, Co-Founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, Arraigned in Brooklyn on International Drug Charges|publisher=U.S. Department of Justice|date=September 13, 2024|accessdate=July 12, 2025}}</ref> On August 25, 2025, during a court hearing in Brooklyn, he pled guilty to two of the 17 counts he was charged with, one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of running a continuing criminal enterprise.<ref name=elmayoaug2025guiltyplea>{{cite news|url=https://apnews.com/article/mexican-sinaloa-cartel-leader-el-mayo-zambada-276e976380207177f8eb9e4373a49a6e|title=Long-elusive Mexican drug lord Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada pleads guilty in US|first=Michael R.|last=Sisak|publisher=Associated Press|date=August 25, 2025}}</ref><ref name=guiltypleafiling>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/nyregion/el-mayo-guilty-plea.html|title=Sinaloa Cartel Founder Expected to Plead Guilty to Trafficking Charges|first1=Santul|last1=Nerkar|first12=Alan|last2=Feuer|publisher=New York Times|date=August 18, 2025|accessdate=August 20, 2025}}</ref><ref name=guiltypleaplan>{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/el-mayo-infamous-mexican-drug-lord-plead-guilty/story?id=124745853|title=El Mayo, the infamous Mexican drug lord, to plead guilty after being brought to US|first=Aaron|last=Katersky|publisher=ABC News|date=August 18, 2025|accessdate=August 20, 2025}}</ref>
==Background==
According to the [[Drug Enforcement Administration|DEA]], Zambada García is the [[Capo]] (captain), along with [[Joaquin "el Chapo" Guzman|Joaquin Guzman Loera]], of the [[Sinaloa Cartel]] the most modern and violent cartel in [[Mexico]].
 
==Career==
Authorities believe that an operation known as ''Operation Trifecta'', where 240 people were arrested, forced Zambada-Garcia to change his operational methods.
Zambada has historically worked closely with the [[Juárez Cartel]] and the [[Vicente Carrillo Fuentes|Carrillo Fuentes]] family, while maintaining independent ties to Colombian cocaine suppliers.<ref>{{cite web |last=Miró |first=Ramón ERIKA|title=ORGANIZED CRIME AND TERRORIST ACTIVITY IN MEXICO, 1999-2002 |url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/pdf-files/OrgCrime_Mexico.pdf |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |access-date=4 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019205317/http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/pdf-files/OrgCrime_Mexico.pdf |archive-date=19 October 2012 |url-status=live |___location=[[Washington D.C.]] |pages=49 |date=February 2003 }}</ref>
Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, Mexico's new No. 1 drug lord, rose to the top by eliminating rivals, winning over Colombian cocaine producers and evading a 19-month U.S.-Mexico effort to smash his smuggling syndicate, investigators told The Associated Press.
 
In 1989, when Mexican drug lord [[Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo]] was arrested, his organization split into two opposing factions: the [[Tijuana Cartel]] whose leadership was inherited by his nephews and heirs, the Arellano Félix brothers and the [[Sinaloa Cartel]] whose leadership fell to former lieutenants [[Héctor Luis Palma Salazar]], [[Adrián Gómez González]], Ismael Zambada García, [[Ignacio Coronel Villarreal]], and [[Joaquín Guzmán Loera]] (''El Chapo'').{{sfn|Lyman|2010|p=292}} The Sinaloa Cartel drug lords were active in the states of Sinaloa, Durango, Chihuahua, Sonora, Nuevo León, and Nayarit.<ref>{{cite news |last=Aguilar Valenzuela |first=Rubén |title=El Cártel del Pacífico |url=http://eleconomista.com.mx/columnas/columna-especial-politica/2011/08/24/cartel-pacifico |access-date=4 October 2012 |newspaper=[[El Economista (Mexico)|El Economista]] |date=24 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140725081303/http://eleconomista.com.mx/columnas/columna-especial-politica/2011/08/24/cartel-pacifico |archive-date=25 July 2014 |url-status=live |language=es }}</ref>
Zambada is hardly a household name, yet he has become the most wanted drug smuggler in Mexico and is expected to be added soon to the FBI's Top 10 Most-Wanted Fugitives list, U.S. and Mexican drug agents told AP.
 
Since 1998, Zambada has been wanted by Mexico's attorney general's office, when it issued bounties totaling $2.8 million [[USD]] on him and five other leaders of the Juárez Cartel.<ref name="cnn">{{Cite news |last=Winslow |first=Don |date=January 9, 2016 |title='El Chapo's' capture: Is the mission really accomplished? |publisher=[[CNN]] |url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/08/opinions/winslow-el-chapo-capture/index.html |access-date=January 13, 2016 |archive-date=8 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808020454/https://www.cnn.com/2016/01/08/opinions/winslow-el-chapo-capture/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
Mexico's top anti-drug prosecutor, Jose Santiago Vasconcelos, called Zambada "drug dealer No. 1" and said the fugitive has become more powerful as his fellow kingpins have fallen, including one who was allegedly killed on Zambada's orders.
 
In 2006, the administration of President [[Felipe Calderón]] launched an offensive against Mexico's drug trafficking networks.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 20, 2011|title=President to send more troops to northeastern Mexico|work=|publisher=[[CNN]]|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/02/19/mexico.border.troops/index.html?_s=PM:WORLD|access-date=April 2, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128095459/http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/02/19/mexico.border.troops/index.html|archive-date=28 November 2023|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=March 23, 2009|title=México ofrece millonarias recompensas por 37 líderes del narco|work=|publisher=[[Univision]]|url=http://noticias.univision.com/mexico/noticias/article/2009-03-23/mexico-ofrece-millonarias-recompensas-por#axzz1gTsPVYKp|url-status=dead|access-date=December 14, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315043142/http://noticias.univision.com/mexico/noticias/article/2009-03-23/mexico-ofrece-millonarias-recompensas-por|archive-date=15 March 2012}}</ref> The [[Tijuana Cartel]], the largest and most sophisticated of the Mexican cartels at the time, received the brunt of the blows. Taking advantage of the pressure being placed on the Tijuana Cartel, other drug bosses, most notably Ismael Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán, began to encroach on strongholds in northwestern Mexico, leading to full-scale war.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}
"With all the other groups, we have captured the leaders," Vasconcelos said at his heavily guarded Mexico City office. "He's the only leader we haven't caught."
 
Zambada's organization, the Sinaloa Cartel, receives multi-ton quantities of cocaine, mostly by sea from [[Illegal drug trade in Colombia|Colombian sources]]. It uses a variety of methods, including airplanes, trucks, cars, boats, and tunnels to transport the cocaine to the United States. Members of the cartel smuggle the cocaine to distribution cells in [[Arizona]], [[Atlanta]], [[California]], [[Illinois]], and [[New York (state)|New York]].<ref name=reward>{{cite web |title=Ismael Zambada-Garcia |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/inl/narc/rewards/39415.htm |publisher=[[United States Department of State]] |access-date=4 October 2012 |archive-date=13 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613151528/https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/inl/narc/rewards/39415.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Zambada has been operating primarily in the states of [[Sinaloa]] and [[Durango]], with influence along a large portion of Mexico's Pacific coast, as well as in [[Cancun|Cancún]], [[Quintana Roo]], [[Sonora]], and [[Nuevo Leon|Nuevo León]].
Zambada's organization was the target of "Operation Trifecta," a 19-month, U.S.-Mexican sting that ended July 31. Authorities say they collared 240 suspected drug smugglers in the United States and Mexico, seized nearly six tons of cocaine and unsealed U.S. federal indictments against Zambada, his son and his key cocaine distributor.
 
[[File:Mayo Zambada.jpg|thumb|Ismael Zambada's wanted poster in the 2000s]]
Errol Chavez, head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Arizona division, said the operation confirmed "the scope of (Zambada's) influence in Mexico is legendary," spanning nearly 30 years.
In 2007, Zambada was featured on ''America's Most Wanted'',<ref>[http://www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=27173 America's Most Wanted] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070608003656/http://www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=27173 |date=8 June 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Weissert|first=Will|date=February 11, 2009|title=Portrait of a Mexican Drug Lord|work=[[CBS News]]|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/portrait-of-a-mexican-drug-lord/|url-status=live|access-date=October 4, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021164618/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/24/world/main579960.shtml|archive-date=October 21, 2012}}</ref> and the [[FBI]] has been offering up to US$5 million for information leading to his capture.<ref name="reward" />
 
In 2011, it was thought Zambada may have had plastic surgery and disguised himself to move throughout Mexico.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Tarm|first=Michael|date=September 9, 2011|title=Did feds cut deal with Mexican kingpin's son?|work=[[NBC News]]|publisher=[[NBC]]|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna44444734|access-date=April 2, 2013|archive-date=8 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108043301/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna44444734|url-status=live}}</ref> Zambada headed the Sinaloa Cartel in partnership with [[Joaquín Guzmán Loera|Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán]] until 2016, when El Chapo was captured. Since 2016, Zambada is thought to have assumed full command of the Sinaloa Cartel and to be Mexico's most enduring and powerful drug lord.<ref name="cnn"/>
Zambada, the 55-year-old leader of a drug gang based in the Pacific Coast resort city of Mazatlan, has formed alliances with "almost every known drug trafficking group in Mexico," Chavez said.
 
In 2019 his son, [[Vicente Zambada Niebla]], testified against Joaquín Guzmán Loera and recounted the shipment of tons of drugs by his father, saying "that his father's bribery budget was often as much as $1 million per month, with bribes going to many high-level Mexican public officials."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-02 |title=Ismael Mario Zambada-Garcia |url=https://www.state.gov/narcotics-rewards-program-target-information-wanted/ismael-mario-zambada-garcia/ |access-date=2022-11-02 |website=[[United States Department of State]] |language=en |archive-date=2022-11-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221102172555/https://www.state.gov/narcotics-rewards-program-target-information-wanted/ismael-mario-zambada-garcia/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
No one knows exactly how much Mexico's drug trade - or Zambada's sizable share of it - are worth, but the White House estimates about half the $65 billion in narcotics that Americans buy each year comes through Mexico.
 
During his August 2025 guilty plea, Zambada acknowledged the extent of the Sinaloa Cartel's operations, including underlings who did things such as build relationships with cocaine producers in Colombia, oversee the importation of cocaine to Mexico by boat and plane, and also smuggle drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border.<ref name=elmayoaug2025guiltyplea /> Zambada also acknowledged that people working for him paid bribes to Mexican police and military commanders “so they could operate freely,” with the bribe payments being made even when the Sinoloa Cartel was just starting out.<ref name=elmayoaug2025guiltyplea />
Zambada has been charged with organized crime and drug trafficking in Mexico, and a U.S. indictment charges him with conspiring to smuggle cocaine.
 
== Capture ==
Zambada's rise to the top of Mexico's drug ranks began in February 2002, when police in Mazatlan shot and killed Ramon Arellano Felix. The feared enforcer for the Tijuana-based smuggling gang bearing his family's name, Arellano Felix had been on the list of the FBI's 10 most-wanted fugitives.
On 25 July 2024, Zambada and [[Joaquín Guzmán López]], son of El Chapo ([[Joaquín Guzmán Loera]]), were arrested in the US at a private airfield in [[El Paso, Texas]], Zambada was reportedly lured by Guzmán López under false pretenses of looking to buy property in Mexico that led to his arrest. However, both were arrested and are expected to be tried in the US.<ref name=Reuters2024/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Martínez |first=Andrés |date=2024-07-25 |title=Capturan a Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, líder del Cártel de Sinaloa, en EEUU |url=https://www.infobae.com/mexico/2024/07/25/reportan-detencion-de-ismael-el-mayo-zambada-lider-del-cartel-de-sinaloa-en-eeuu/ |access-date=2024-07-26 |website=infobae |language=es-ES |archive-date=26 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726021029/https://www.infobae.com/mexico/2024/07/25/reportan-detencion-de-ismael-el-mayo-zambada-lider-del-cartel-de-sinaloa-en-eeuu/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Tucker |first1=Emma |first2=Polo |last2=Sandoval |first3=Evan |last3=Perez |first4=Holmes |last4=Lybrand |date=2024-07-26 |title=US operation to capture Sinaloa cartel leaders had the help of one of the captured men: a son of 'El Chapo,' official says |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/25/us/sinaloa-cartel-ismael-zambada-custody-report/index.html |access-date=2024-07-27 |website=[[CNN]] |language=en |archive-date=9 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809020723/https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/25/us/sinaloa-cartel-ismael-zambada-custody-report/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
 
== Trial proceedings ==
Chavez and U.S. investigators in Mexico City who spoke on the condition of anonymity said Zambada lured Arellano Felix to his home turf in a complex trap thought up, and executed [[ Jesus Zambada Gamboa]] and paid the police officers who killed him, although Mexican officials won't confirm that. Zambada has never been charged in the case.
On 13 September 2024, he had his first hearing at a federal court Brooklyn, New York, where he pleaded "not guilty" to the crimes of drug trafficking, illegal possession of weapons and criminal enterprise.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-13 |title='El Mayo' Zambada se declara no culpable ante la Corte de Brooklyn en Nueva York |url=https://politico.mx/el-mayo-zambada-se-declara-no-culpable-ante-la-corte-de-brooklyn-nueva-york |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=Político MX |language=es}}</ref>
 
Zambada's next court date took place on 15 January 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dos Reis |first=Estefani |date=2024-09-15 |title='El Mayo' Zambada es ingresado a una prisión de Nueva York |url=https://primicia.com.ve/mundo/el-mayo-zambada-es-ingresado-a-una-prision-de-nueva-york/ |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=Diario Primicia |language=es}}</ref>
Zambada got another boost a month later, when authorities captured Ramon Arellano Felix's brother Benjamin, the Arellano Felix gang's operations chief.
 
Zambada submitted a petition to the Mexican government requesting extradition to the country to face trial there and an intervention to rule out any death penalty. "No one is defending this person" and "Beyond the person and his crimes, the issue is how he was detained," said President [[Claudia Sheinbaum]] regarding the petition review. The Mexican government is also investigating anyone involved in handing over a Mexican citizen to foreign agents to be charged with treason.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-21 |title=Mexico reviewing request from cartel leader jailed in the US to be sent back |url=https://apnews.com/article/mexico-mayo-zambada-sinaloa-sheinbaum-365fd6359225e82dc8a55b290268764a |access-date=2025-02-22 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref>
The Arellano Felix gang was Mexico's most powerful smuggling syndicate from the late 1990s until the death of Ramon Arellano Felix and the capture of Benjamin Arellano Felix.
 
=== Guilty plea and apology ===
Many investigators on both sides of the border speculated that no one drug lord would step up and fill the power vacuum left by a weakened Arellano Felix gang.
 
On August 18, 2025, a court filing revealed that Zambada would now plead guilty to a sweeping number of drug trafficking related charges.<ref name=guiltypleafiling /> Though it was not specified how many of the 17 counts he faced that Zambada would plead guilty to, it confirmed the number would be "sweeping" and that the court hearing where he will officially make this plea will be held on August 25, 2025.<ref name=guiltypleafiling /><ref name=guiltypleaplan />
But Chavez said Zambada rose to power by winning the trust of Colombian cocaine producers in a way the Arellano Felix gang never could, allowing his organization to move more cocaine into the United States than most other smuggling syndicates.
 
On August 25, 2025, Zambada pled guilty in a Brooklyn federal court to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of running a continuing criminal enterprise.<ref name=elmayoaug2025guiltyplea /> While pleading guilty, Zambada also issued an apology, stating that “I recognize the great harm illegal drugs have done to the people in the United States and Mexico" and that I apologize for all of it, and I take responsibility for my actions.”<ref name=elmayoaug2025guiltyplea />
"There were financial problems between the (Arellano Felix organization) and the Colombians," Chavez said, noting that as the Arellano Felix brothers fell, "bills went unpaid and the Colombians sought other trafficking organizations they trusted more."
 
== Personal life ==
"They sought out El Mayo," he explained.
Zambada is married to Rosario Niebla Cardoza. He has four sons and four daughters. His wife and sons,<ref>{{cite web|date=April 10, 2014|title=Vicente Zambada Niebla se declara culpable por narcotráfico en EU|url=http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2014/04/10/vicente-zambada-niebla-se-declara-culpable-por-narcotrafico-en-eu|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410231318/http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2014/04/10/vicente-zambada-niebla-se-declara-culpable-por-narcotrafico-en-eu|archive-date=April 10, 2014|access-date=April 23, 2016|publisher=[[CNN]]}}</ref> [[Serafín Zambada Ortiz]] (alias "el Sera", as of 2018 arrested and released),<ref>{{cite web|date=September 6, 2018|title=Quedó en libertad en Estados Unidos Serafín Zambada, hijo del capo narco "Mayo" Zambada|url=https://www.infobae.com/america/mexico/2018/09/06/quedo-en-libertad-en-estados-unidos-serafin-zambada-hijo-del-capo-narco-mayo-zambada/|access-date=March 14, 2019|publisher=[[Infobae]]|archive-date=7 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907130355/https://www.infobae.com/america/mexico/2018/09/06/quedo-en-libertad-en-estados-unidos-serafin-zambada-hijo-del-capo-narco-mayo-zambada/|url-status=live}}</ref> and Ismael Zambada Imperial (alias "el Mayito gordo", convicted),<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/story/2021-04-30/sinaloa-cartel-pleads-guilty|title=Son of Sinaloa Cartel kingpin pleads guilty in San Diego|date=April 30, 2021|access-date=May 4, 2021|first=Kristina|last=Davis|publisher=[[The San Diego Union Tribune]]|archive-date=7 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230107131449/https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/story/2021-04-30/sinaloa-cartel-pleads-guilty|url-status=live}}</ref> as well as his four daughters, María Teresa, Midiam Patricia, Mónica del Rosario, and Modesta, have played an active role in narcotics' distribution and [[money laundering]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Zambada Garcia Financial Network |url=http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/zambada_chart_051707.pdf |publisher=[[United States Department of the Treasury]] |access-date=4 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120921151636/http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/zambada_chart_051707.pdf |archive-date=21 September 2012 |url-status=live |date=May 2007 }}</ref> On 18 March 2009, his son [[Vicente Zambada Niebla]] was arrested by the Mexican Army. His other son, Ismael "Mayito" Zambada Jr. has been sought for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance in the United States.<ref>{{cite news|date=March 19, 2009|title=Mexico captures high-level cartel member|work=[[NBC News]]|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna29773111|access-date=October 4, 2012|archive-date=8 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808234635/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna29773111|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
On 20 October 2010, some of his relatives were arrested in Mexico City on [[drug trafficking]] charges: Ismael's brother, Jesus "The King" Zambada, along with Ismael's son and nephew.<ref>{{cite news|date=October 22, 2008|title=Top drug cartel suspect arrested in Mexico|work=[[CNN]]|___location=[[Mexico City]]|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/10/22/mexico.drug.arrest.ap/index.html|url-status=dead|access-date=October 4, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081025092131/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/10/22/mexico.drug.arrest.ap/index.html|archive-date=October 25, 2008}}</ref>
Zambada formed close ties to a Colombian cocaine producing organization believed to be run by twin brothers Miguel and Victor Mejia Munera, U.S. investigators say.
 
On 18 June 2014, his son-in-law, Juan Gabriel González Ibarra, husband of Midiam Patricia, died after suffering an electric shock at his home in Culiacán.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Valdez |first1=Cynthia |title=Muere electrocutado yerno de 'El Mayo' Zambada |url=http://www.milenio.com/policia/yerno_de_Ismael_El_Mayo_Zambada-cartel_de_sinaloa-El_Chapo_0_320368123.html |access-date=19 June 2014 |publisher=[[Milenio]] |date=19 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140624183612/http://www.milenio.com/policia/yerno_de_Ismael_El_Mayo_Zambada-cartel_de_sinaloa-El_Chapo_0_320368123.html |archive-date=24 June 2014 |url-status=live |language=es }}</ref>
Arellano Felix syndicate smugglers still bring tons of cocaine into the United States via Tijuana. Rather than challenge the rival gang's authority between Baja California and California, Zambada has tightened his control of smuggling routes leading from neighboring Sonora state into Arizona, authorities say.
 
In June 2020, former DEA agent Mike Vigil revealed that Zambada was "sick with [[diabetes]]."<ref name="sinaloatakes">{{Cite news|last=Fregoso|first=Juliana|date=June 24, 2020|title="Va a caer antes de que muera de viejo", la advertencia de Mike Vigil a Caro Quintero, "el Narco de Narcos"|work=|publisher=[[Infobae]]|url=https://www.infobae.com/america/mexico/2020/06/24/va-a-caer-antes-que-muera-de-viejo-la-advertencia-de-mike-vigil-a-caro-quintero-el-narco-de-narcos/|access-date=|archive-date=2 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200902004905/https://www.infobae.com/america/mexico/2020/06/24/va-a-caer-antes-que-muera-de-viejo-la-advertencia-de-mike-vigil-a-caro-quintero-el-narco-de-narcos/|url-status=live}}</ref>
Chavez said his office is stationing more DEA agents and informants in Sonora and southernmost Arizona in an effort to further target Zambada's group. The DEA also has received special funding for highway billboards between Tucson and Phoenix featuring a wanted poster of Zambada.
 
On 12 August 2025, El Mayo's son-in-law Juan Carlos Felix Gastelum, also known as “El Chavo Félix,” would be extradited to United States from Mexico.<ref name=soninlawarrestandarrangment>{{cite news|url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/three-fugitives-transferred-united-states-mexico-arraigned-san-diego|title=Three Fugitives Transferred to the United States from Mexico Arraigned in San Diego|publisher=U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of California|date=13 August 2025|accessdate=13 August 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Mexico extradites 26 cartel members to the US under the promise they will not face death penalty |url=https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-08-13/mexico-extradites-26-cartel-members-to-the-us-under-the-promise-they-will-not-face-death-penalty.html |access-date=2025-08-25 |publisher=El Pais |date=2025-08-13 |language=en}}</ref> On August 13, 2025, “El Chavo Félix” would be arraigned in a U.S. federal court in [[San Diego, California]].<ref name=soninlawarrestandarrangment />
Zambada remains a bitter enemy of the Arellano Felix gang, but is close to accused Juarez cartel leader Vicente Carrillo Fuentes and has reached out to Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, a convicted drug lord who escaped from prison and specializes in building drug tunnels under the U.S. border, authorities say.
 
==In popular culture==
"El Mayo is more of the businessman, the guy who wants to cooperate and bring people together," Chavez said. "He and El Chapo are very close. They have helped each other become very successful in Arizona."
«Mayo» was introduced as a character in season 3 of «Narcos Mexico». The role was portraited by the Cuban actor Alberto Guerra. "Don Ismael", a character inspired by Zambada García, was featured in the 2017 television series ''[[El Chapo (TV series)|El Chapo]]''.
 
==See also==
Originally from Sinaloa state where Mazatlan is located, Zambada got his start as an enforcer and hit man for the Juarez cartel based in the border city of the same name.
{{Portal|Mexico|Biography}}
* [[List of fugitives from justice who disappeared]]
* [[List of Mexico's 37 most-wanted drug lords]]
* [[Mérida Initiative]]
* [[Mexican Drug War]]
* [[War on Drugs]]
 
==References==
Investigators can't agree on when he founded his own group of freelance smugglers. Mexico's attorney general's office still listed him as one of the heads of Juarez cartel's operations in Sinaloa as recently as 1998, but Chavez and other DEA officials said Zambada began working to form his own group in Mazatlan more than a decade ago.
{{reflist}}
 
===Bibliography===
Mexico has taken out several top drug lords over the past two years. Besides the Arellano Felix brothers, police and soldiers collared Osiel Cardenas, the alleged head of the gulf cartel, in March. Last month, they caught up with Armando Valencia, one of the
*{{cite book|last=Lyman|first=Michael D.|title=Drugs in Society: Causes, Concepts and Control|publisher=[[Elsevier]]|isbn=978-1437744507|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pm71ElFPDuMC&q=Adri%C3%A1n+G%C3%B3mez+Gonz%C3%A1lez+drug+cartel&pg=PA292|edition=6|access-date=4 October 2012|page=292|date=14 October 2010}}
alleged heads of a drug gang based in the central state of Michoacan.
 
==External links==
Chavez said the DEA is watching family members Zambada has in the United States, but there's no evidence he has crossed the border. In August, Mexican special agents stormed homes in Sonora state's capital, Hermosillo, arresting one Zambada associate.
* [https://www.dea.gov/fugitives/ismael-zambada-garcia Most Wanted Fugitive: Ismael Zambada Garcia] – [[Drug Enforcement Administration]]
 
{{Mexican Drug War}}
Chavez said authorities were "one step away from El Chapo and two steps away from El Mayo."
{{Authority control}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zambada, Ismael}}
"It came down to timing," he said. "Our timing wasn't right.
[[Category:1948 births]]
It is rumoured that he gave his nephew total control of the [[United States]] operation of the organization. Little is known about his nephew, but reports have his name listed as Jesus or Israel. What is known is that his paternal last names are Zambada Garcia and Gamboa Loera and that he might also use various aliases and nick-names including ''Fantasma'' and ''Magic''. It has been reported he runs
[[Category:20th-century Mexican criminals]]
operations from [[Chicago]], is in his mid-twenties, keeps a very low profile, rarely drives and might walk with a limp due to various shots he received from an attempted attack on his life in which he was shot numerous times in his legs. A.P. Reports have him as a very articulate individual, very charming and of great knowledge. His approach to running the organization is more of a business type opting to talk things over then to resort to violence. Although he was arrested charges were dropped due to lack of evidence. It is alleged that he masterminded the 2002 assassination of rival drug trafficker [[Ramón Arellano Félix]] from the [[Tijuana Cartel]], who was considered one of the most feared drug lords in Mexican history. He had convinced the Tijuana cartel that he was willing to sell out his own family. Then in the end he turned the tables on the most organized Mexican cartel and played them with their own game. His godfather and uncle is [[Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman|Joaquín Guzmán Loera]], alias "El Chapo", whose botched assassination was ordered by Ramón Arellano Félix in [[Guadalajara, Jalisco|Guadalajara]] during May 1993 and instead resulted in the death of a Roman Catholic archbishop. Following the death of Ramón Arellano Félix in [[2002]] it was an open market and his reward was imperial domination of drug trafficking activities into the US. He gained fame and respect from his peers which allowed him to leave southern [[California]] and disappear into the midwest where it is believed he operates.
[[Category:21st-century Mexican criminals]]
As of early 2006. It is believed he is responsible with a full out fledged war with the " Zetas ", The firepower of the Gulf Cartel. He had remainded dormant for a couple years yet seeing no end in sight various informants believe he decided to come back to his old ways.
[[Category:Living people]]
Jesus Zambada Loera has strong connections in Michoacan and Quintana Roo, therefore the Zetas are a big problem for him, since they have tried to take over these states.
[[Category:Mexican drug traffickers]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People from Culiacán Municipality]]
[[Category:People sanctioned under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government]]
[[Category:Sinaloa Cartel traffickers]]
[[Category:Zambada family|Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada]]
[[Category:Articles with quotation marks in the title]]
[[Category:Mexican people imprisoned in the United States]]
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