Ismael El Mayo Zambada pleaded guilty to racketeering and running a continuing criminal enterprise and agreed to a $15 billion forfeiture money judgment and life imprisonment. The agreement requires him to reveal all assets to the courts and consents to seizure of any property, accounts, or assets up to the unpaid judgment if he fails to pay. The $15 billion figure is a court estimate of Sinaloa Cartel profits under his leadership over half a century. U.S. laws permit seizure of funds from money laundering, organized crime, and terrorism. Experts say the plea sends a message that surrender may be preferable to capture. Sentencing is scheduled for January 2026.
An astronomical $15 billion. That's the sum Ismael El Mayo Zambada has agreed to hand over to the United States as part of his guilty plea on charges of racketeering and running a continuing criminal enterprise as the boss of the Sinaloa Cartel. With the case set for sentencing in early January 2026, the septuagenarian Zambada also accepted a deal to spend the remainder of his life in prison and to reveal all his assets to the courts.
As part of the plea agreement, Zambada Garcia also agreed to the entry of a $15 billion forfeiture money judgment, the plea agreement reads. If he fails to pay the full amount of the money forfeiture judgment, he consents to the forfeiture of any other property he owns up to the amount of the unpaid money forfeiture judgment. That is, any property, accounts, or assets that can be found will be seized up to that amount.
The $15 billion award is a court estimate based on the total profits and earnings the Sinaloa Cartel generated under El Mayo's leadership during half a century of drug trafficking and other crimes. U.S. money laundering, organized crime, and terrorism laws specifically allow for the seizure of money derived from illicit activities related to these three areas, explains Luis Perez de Acha, a lawyer specializing in money laundering.
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