El Mayo
U.S. Department of State reward poster of Ismael Zambada, issued September 2021
Born
Ismael Mario Zambada García

(1948-01-01) 1 January 1948[1]
El Alamo, Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico[2]
Other namesMayo,[3] M-Z,[4] Padrino,[4] el Señor
Occupation(s)Co-founder and leader of the Sinaloa Cartel
Height1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
PredecessorJoaquín Guzmán Loera
SpouseRosario Niebla Cardoza
Children
At least 8
  • Vicente Zambada Niebla, alias "El Vicentillo"
  • Ismael Zambada Imperial, alias "Mayito Gordo"
  • Serafín Zambada Ortiz, alias "Sera"
  • Ismael Zambada Sicairos, alias ""El Mayito Flaco"
  • María Teresa Zambada Niebla
  • Monica del Rosario Zambada Niebla
  • Modesta Zambada Niebla
Reward amount
Mexico: 300 million Mexican pesos;
USA: US$15 million
Partner(s)Joaquín Guzmán Loera and Héctor Luis Palma Salazar

Ismael Mario Zambada García (born 1 January 1948)[1] is a Mexican drug lord, co-founder and current top leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, an international crime syndicate based in Sinaloa. Before he assumed leadership of the entire cartel, he allegedly served as the logistical coordinator for its Guzmán-Zambada organization, which has overseen the trafficking of cocaine and heroin into Chicago and other US cities by aircraft, narcosubs, container ships, go-fast boats, fishing vessels, buses, rail cars, tractor trailers, and automobiles.[5] As of early 2023, he has never been arrested or incarcerated and is the single last remaining fugitive of the List of Mexico's 37 most-wanted drug lords (2009).

Career

Zambada has historically worked closely with the Juárez Cartel and the Carrillo Fuentes family, while maintaining independent ties to Colombian cocaine suppliers.[6]

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, Ismael Zambada García and Joaquín Guzmán Loera (El Chapo).[7] The Sinaloa Cartel drug lords were active in the states of Sinaloa, Durango, Chihuahua, Sonora, Nuevo León, and Nayarit.[8]

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.[9]

In 2006, the administration of President Felipe Calderón launched an offensive against Mexico's drug trafficking networks.[10][11] 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.

Zambada's organization, the Sinaloa Cartel, receives multi-ton quantities of cocaine, mostly by sea from 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.[12] 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, Quintana Roo, Sonora, and Nuevo Leon.

Ismael Zambada's wanted poster in the 2000s

In 2007, Zambada was featured on America's Most Wanted,[13][14] and the FBI has been offering up to US$5 million for information leading to his capture.[12]

In 2011, it was thought Zambada may have had plastic surgery and disguised himself to move throughout Mexico.[15] Until 2016, Zambada headed the Sinaloa Cartel in partnership with Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, 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.[9]

In 2019 his son, Vicente Zambada Niebla, testified against Joaquín Guzman Loera and recounted the shipment of tons of drugs by his father, and "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."[16]

On 24 June 2020, it was revealed that Zambada had been willing to give former top Mexican drug lords Rafael Caro Quintero and Miguel Caro Quintero high ranking positions in the Sinaloa Cartel if they agreed to join. However, the effort to recruit the brothers faltered as Zambada's health declined and when after that Zambada gave El Chapo's sons more influence in the organization, who were less willing to grant them leadership.[17]

Personal life

Zambada is married to Rosario Niebla Cardoza. He has four sons and four daughters. His wife and sons,[18] Serafín Zambada-Ortiz (alias "el Sera", as of 2018 arrested and released),[19] and Ismael Zambada-Imperial (alias "el Mayito gordo", convicted),[20] 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.[21] 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.[22]

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.[23]

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 .[24]

In June 2020, former DEA agent Mike Vigil revealed that Zambada was "sick with diabetes."[17]

"Don Ismael", a character inspired by Zambada García, was featured in the 2017 television series El Chapo.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Narcotics Rewards Program: Ismael Zambada-Garcia". U.S. Department of State. 2009. Retrieved 26 August 2009.
  2. ↑ Flores, Linaloe R. (20 February 2011). "Cuna de narcos se hunde en la miseria". El Universal (Mexico City) (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 7 December 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  3. ↑ De la Luz González, María (19 March 2009). "Detienen al hijo de El Mayo Zambada". El Universal (in Spanish). Mexico City. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  4. 1 2 Scherer, Julio (4 April 2010). "El Mayo dice que Calderón perderá la guerra antinarco". El Informador (Mexico) (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 20 April 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  5. ↑ "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. JESUS VICENTE ZAMBADA-NIEBLA" (PDF). United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. 11 October 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 June 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  6. ↑ Miró, Ramón ERIKA (February 2003). "About this Service | Federal Research Division | Services | Library of Congress" (PDF). Washington D.C.: Library of Congress. p. 49. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  7. ↑ Lyman 2010, p. 292.
  8. ↑ Aguilar Valenzuela, Rubén (24 August 2011). "El Cártel del Pacífico". El Economista (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 25 July 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  9. 1 2 Winslow, Don (9 January 2016). "'El Chapo's' capture: Is the mission really accomplished?". CNN. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  10. ↑ The CNN Wire Staff (20 February 2011). "President to send more troops to northeastern Mexico". CNN. Retrieved 2 April 2013. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  11. ↑ "México ofrece millonarias recompensas por 37 líderes del narco". Univision. 23 March 2009. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  12. 1 2 "Ismael Zambada-Garcia". United States Department of State. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  13. ↑ America's Most Wanted Archived 8 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ↑ Weissert, Will (11 February 2009). "Portrait of a Mexican Drug Lord". CBS News. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  15. ↑ Tarm, Michael (9 September 2011). "Did feds cut deal with Mexican kingpin's son?". NBC News. NBC. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  16. ↑ dos (2 November 2022). "Ismael Mario Zambada-Garcia". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  17. 1 2 Fregoso, Juliana (24 June 2020). ""Va a caer antes de que muera de viejo", la advertencia de Mike Vigil a Caro Quintero, "el Narco de Narcos"". Infobae.
  18. ↑ "Vicente Zambada Niebla se declara culpable por narcotráfico en EU". CNN. 10 April 2014. Archived from the original on 10 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  19. ↑ "Quedó en libertad en Estados Unidos Serafín Zambada, hijo del capo narco "Mayo" Zambada". Infobae. 6 September 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  20. ↑ Davis, Kristina (30 April 2021). "Son of Sinaloa Cartel kingpin pleads guilty in San Diego". The San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  21. ↑ "Zambada Garcia Financial Network" (PDF). United States Department of the Treasury. May 2007. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 September 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  22. ↑ "Mexico captures high-level cartel member". NBC News. 19 March 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  23. ↑ "Top drug cartel suspect arrested in Mexico". CNN. Mexico City. 22 October 2008. Archived from the original on 25 October 2008. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  24. ↑ Valdez, Cynthia (19 June 2014). "Muere electrocutado yerno de 'El Mayo' Zambada" (in Spanish). Milenio. Archived from the original on 24 June 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2014.

Bibliography

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