- 5 months ago
Attorney General Pam Bondi and other top law enforcement officials held a press briefing in Brooklyn, New York, after Sinaloa Cartel boss Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada Garcia pled guilty in federal court.
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00:30Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Joseph Nocella, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Thank you all for being here. I would like to begin by introducing the Honorable Pamela J. Bondi, Attorney General for the United States of America.
00:45Thank you to our great U.S. Attorney here. We also have our DEA Administrator, Terry Cole. Our HSI Acting Executive Associate Director, Derek Gordon.
01:01FBI Operations Director, who I'm with every day, Chad Yarborough. U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida, Jason Quinonez. U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, Justin Simmons.
01:15And Acting Assistant AG Matt Gagliotti, who I'm with almost every day as well. We're here to announce a landmark victory for the Department of Justice, our law enforcement partners, and the United States of America.
01:31As you've heard, drug kingpin Ismail Zambada Garcia, also known as El Mayo, has confessed to a lifetime of crime in service to the Sinaloa cartel, a foreign terrorist organization.
01:51Thanks to the relentless work of our prosecutors and our federal agents, El Mayo will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
02:02He will die in a U.S. federal prison where he belongs.
02:07His guilty plea brings us one step closer to achieving our goal of elimination of the drug cartels and the transnational criminal organizations throughout this world that are flooding our country with drugs, human traffickers, and homicides.
02:31Under President Trump's leadership, the Department of Justice is on the front lines of this fight.
02:38We're standing shoulder to shoulder with all of our law enforcement partners to dismantle these narco-terrorists.
02:47And that's exactly what they are. They are narco-terrorists.
02:50El Mayo was one of the most prolific and powerful drug traffickers in this world.
02:57His partner was El Chapo.
03:01They were co-founders of the Sinaloa cartel.
03:07They brutally murdered multiple people and flooded our country with drugs.
03:15Their reign of terror is over.
03:19He will never walk free again.
03:21Over the last three decades, El Mayo and his accomplices made billions of dollars, hundreds of millions each year they were making by bringing poisonous drugs into our country.
03:41No longer.
03:42The Sinaloa cartel initially built their businesses with cocaine, but then under El Mayo's leadership, they turned to heroin, they turned to fentanyl.
03:54They purchased fentanyl precursor chemicals from China.
03:58They made the drug in Mexico and flooded it into our communities, killing our kids.
04:06El Mayo also ensured that the Sinaloa cartel operated and protected its drug trafficking business by relying on extreme violence.
04:17They used military-grade weapons and directed hitmen to kill their adversaries.
04:26They committed gruesome assassinations, kidnappings, and horrible crimes to maintain discipline within their own organization.
04:35He ordered the murders of countless individuals and rivals.
04:41Many innocent people died as a result of this as well.
04:45El Mayo operated with impunity at the highest levels of the Mexican drug trafficking world by paying bribes to government officials, by bribing law enforcement officers.
04:58He controlled corrupt officials and officers who protected his workers and his drug shipments that traveled from Mexico into our country.
05:12El Mayo's crimes have been so prolific that in the past two decades, he's been indicted in no fewer than 16 federal courts across our country.
05:2316, from Western District of Texas to Chicago to here in the Eastern District of New York.
05:32He escaped justice for decades, but under President Trump's leadership, he has finally been brought to justice.
05:40Today's conviction is the latest success in the United States' fight against deadly cartels and transnational criminal organizations.
05:52We've made remarkable progress.
05:55Just to give you a few examples.
05:57Under President Trump's direction, the United States State Department designated the Sinaloa cartel together with five other cartels and MS-13 and TDA as foreign terrorist organizations due to the serious threat that they pose to our national security.
06:18As a result, the DOJ has already charged leaders of the Sinaloa cartel with narco-terrorism and charged alleged members with support and supporters of TDA, MS-13, and CJNG, currently one of the most violent gangs, cartels in Mexico.
06:39They've provided material support to a terrorist organization.
06:43We are calling these drug kingpins what they are, international narco-terrorists that invade our country, threaten the sovereignty of our borders, and destroy our communities.
06:59They are terrorists, and we will prosecute them like they are terrorists.
07:04Since President Trump took office, Mexican authorities have expelled more than 50 high-ranking cartel leaders and other dangerous criminals to our country to face prosecution.
07:18More than 50.
07:20These are historic numbers that ensure that these criminals will face justice and face justice on American soil.
07:29We now have leaders from CJNG, Sinaloa, and Los Zetas in custody.
07:39Our prosecutors in the Criminal Division and the Northern District of Illinois obtained a guilty plea from Ovidio Guzman Lopez, the son of El Chapo, and another leader of the Sinaloa cartel, the co-founder.
07:53Just a few weeks ago, on August 14th, we announced criminal charges against five cartel leaders and high-ranking members of these united cartels.
08:05We will not rest until Americans are safe from these narco-terrorists.
08:11Thanks to our law enforcement officers, both here and in Mexico, who often put their lives on the line every single day to protect us and to get these violent leaders off the streets.
08:28We are not done yet.
08:29Thank you, Attorney General Bondi.
08:53As you've heard a short time ago, Ismael Zambada Garcia, known as El Mayo, pled guilty here in the Eastern District of New York to being the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, the largest drug trafficking organization in the world.
09:10Among other things, he admitted to leading a continuing criminal enterprise and to RICO conspiracy charges.
09:18This is an historic day.
09:21With today's plea, the Sinaloa cartel has been decapitated.
09:27Its two founders and leaders, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, also known as El Chapo, and now El Mayo, both stand convicted.
09:38These defendants built a criminal empire in Sinaloa, Mexico.
09:42Their cartel grew like it was a cancer throughout the hemisphere.
09:46They flooded the United States with deadly drugs, including cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and then fentanyl.
09:57El Mayo was first indicted in the Eastern District of New York in 2009, and we continued to add charges, including, as the Attorney General mentioned, fentanyl trafficking, right up until this very year.
10:10As a result of his conviction, El Mayo faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
10:18This conviction is also a testament to the unrelenting determination of the prosecutors and the law enforcement agents who would never stop seeking to bring El Mayo to justice.
10:31As our Attorney General has pointed out, the plea marks the conclusion of a decades-long effort by hardworking and dedicated public servants across the United States.
10:43I want to thank the prosecution team from the Eastern District of New York, Assistant United States Attorneys Francisco Navarro, Robert Pollack, Adam Amir, Lauren Bowman, and Rebecca Urkulay.
11:00In addition to the United States Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Florida and the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas, both of whom are here with us today,
11:10I also want to acknowledge the important contributions of the U.S. Attorneys' Offices for the Northern District of Illinois, the Southern District of California, and the Central District of California.
11:21I would also like to thank our American law enforcement partners at the FBI, Homeland Security, and the DEA, along with numerous other law enforcement agents throughout the government.
11:34I would also like to thank our counterparts in the Mexican government.
11:38Finally, I gratefully acknowledge the presence here today of Frank Tarantino from the DEA, Ricky Patel from Homeland Security, and Philip Bates from the FBI.
11:49I'm now going to ask Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Gagliotti to say a few words.
11:55Thank you, United States Attorney Nocella.
12:06Good afternoon.
12:07My name is Matthew Gagliotti, and I'm the Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division and a former Assistant United States Attorney here in the Eastern District of New York.
12:16Today marks another milestone in the Department of Justice's relentless efforts towards the total elimination of cartels.
12:24One of the most notorious narco terrorists of all time, Ismail Elmayo Zambada, was convicted in a United States courtroom,
12:32having confessed to more than three decades of crime in service to the ruthless Sinaloa cartel.
12:40For decades, the Sinaloa cartel, under Elmayo's leadership, made billions of dollars by importing dangerous drugs to the United States,
12:50intensifying the drug epidemic in our communities by flooding our streets with cocaine, heroin, and ultimately fentanyl.
12:58Today, Elmayo admitted to crimes of a staggering scope, including leading a sprawling criminal enterprise
13:06that distributed more than 1.5 million kilograms of cocaine in addition to other drugs.
13:12He made corrupt payments to operate with impunity, and he protected Sinaloa's operations by ordering acts of extreme heinous violence,
13:22leaving a trail of human suffering, including innocent victims, in his wake.
13:27Pursuant to his guilty plea, Elmayo will spend the rest of his life in prison and owes $15 billion in forfeiture to the United States.
13:37Results like this are not possible without the prosecutors and agents who have done an extraordinary job
13:42building the case piece by piece and seeing it through to completion.
13:47This is another significant result under Attorney General Bondi's leadership in the department's unparalleled drive to eliminate cartels.
13:57As part of that effort, we have seen more than 50 high-ranking cartel members expelled to face justice in American courtrooms,
14:05collectively one of the greatest takedowns in United States law enforcement history.
14:09Other leaders have been charged as foreign terrorist organization leaders, and members have been charged as well.
14:16We continue to pursue these individuals to make them see justice in the United States courtroom.
14:23As Acting Assistant Attorney General, I want to thank all of our law enforcement partners,
14:27and I'll briefly flag in particular trial attorneys Jace Bourne and Kirk Handrich,
14:32as well as all of the U.S. Attorney and law enforcement partners with us.
14:37The Attorney General has made clear that the department's goal is eradicating the harms caused by cartels in American communities,
14:45and the department is quickly making historic progress towards achieving just that.
14:53It's my honor to introduce DEA Administrator Terry Cole.
15:00Thank you, Matt.
15:01Madam Attorney General, thank you for your law enforcement support.
15:07Thank you for the care and attention you've given to our police officers every single day.
15:12And thank you for your leadership.
15:15My name is Terry Cole.
15:16I'm the Administrator of DEA.
15:18I'm a career 1811 criminal investigator with DEA.
15:22And when I joined this case years ago, we were sometimes told we were chasing shadows,
15:28legends of men who believed they were untouchable.
15:32One of those men was El Mayo.
15:35However, today, as you heard, he stood in a U.S. courtroom.
15:41He said those words that change everything.
15:45He showed us a lot.
15:46This is just not another plea.
15:50It's a collapse of a myth that leaders of cartels are beyond the reach of American justice.
15:59Today, we prove once again no one is beyond our reach.
16:05I've seen firsthand the families who've lost sons, daughters, brothers, sisters to fentanyl, pushed by Sinaloa and Omayo.
16:18When he admits guilt, it's not just words on a page.
16:23It is an acknowledgment of those lives stolen by his empire.
16:29This case was built brick by brick across continents.
16:35It began in 2020 at a targeting meeting that I attended here in New York.
16:41From there, the New York Field Division, the men and women standing to my right from all federal agencies,
16:50pursued relentlessly every single member of the Sinaloa cartel, along with our agents in Bogota,
16:59along with agents in Madrid and our partners at HSI and the FBI and our partners at EDNY and the other federal agencies, prosecutors that we've mentioned.
17:13Our agents just did not build a case.
17:17They carried the memories of U.S. citizens.
17:21Juan Carlos Garcia, who was murdered by the Sinaloa cartel in 2015.
17:26Every interview, every wiretap, every sleepless night was for justice.
17:34It was for justice for those families who have lost their kids to the Sinaloa cartel.
17:41Our global partnerships developed the ultimate blow.
17:49We did this by leaning on our powers of partnerships in New York to Bogota to Madrid to Washington.
17:58We tore down walls between prosecutors, investigators, and analysts.
18:03We didn't care who got credit.
18:07The only thing we wanted was the truth.
18:12It's the same model we used when we took down Garcia Luna, when we took down Chapo, and as we continue to dismantle RCQ.
18:23It's a model of dismantlement of the cartels today.
18:28Dismantling cartels, we just didn't go after the drugs.
18:34We went after the decision makers, the financiers, the killers who directed violence with a single phone call.
18:44This is how we dismantle cartels at the highest level.
18:49Global cooperation.
18:52DEA is not just an American agency.
18:55It's the world's most trusted partner to fight against cartels and synthetic drugs.
19:03This case proves what happens when we work together as one.
19:09The illicit finance.
19:10These complex historical conspiracies are where DEA thrives.
19:15Following the money, listening to cooperators, and turning intelligence into courtroom-packed truce.
19:22Every plea is more than a headline.
19:29It's one less pipeline of poison into our neighborhoods.
19:33It is one more life saved from a fentanyl overdose.
19:36I've stood in too many homes where parents and their children keep memories of those that are lost.
19:47Today's guilty plea doesn't bring those kids back, but it sends a message to the cartels, to the world, and to families who still grieve.
19:56I believe DEA will not stop.
19:59We will hunt the heads of these organizations.
20:02We will tear apart their networks.
20:05And we will bring them to justice.
20:08One member at a time, by the men and women, over to my right.
20:14The finest career law enforcement investigators in the world.
20:19Good afternoon, Attorney General.
20:32Administrator Cole, thank you for the remarks.
20:34Good afternoon, everybody.
20:35My name is Derek Gordon.
20:36I'm the acting executive associate director for Homeland Security Investigations.
20:40Today marks an historic day in pursuit of justice for the countless victims that Vadov's regime of terror created.
20:47For over 30 years, he yielded unchecked power at the highest levels of the Mexican drug cartels in the trafficking world,
20:55leaving a legacy of corruption, violence, and devastation behind.
21:00Indicted 16 times over two decades, he continued a criminal enterprise that shamelessly peddled death.
21:08Together with El Chapo, he transformed the Sinaloa cartel into one of the largest, most violent drug trafficking organizations in the world.
21:18Under his control, the cartel became synonymous with public corruption, the generation of billions of dollars from trafficking fentanyl,
21:26the unimaginable bloodshed, acts of outright terrorism that devastated communities and countless lives.
21:32Today, he stands defenseless because of the relentless investigative efforts of HSI, FBI, DEA, and the Department of Justice.
21:43His guilty plea is not just a milestone in America's fight against the Sinaloa cartel.
21:48It's a victory for the victims whose lives were shattered by his ruthless regime.
21:53But we are far from finished.
21:57HSI special agents working alongside our law enforcement counterparts have dedicated decades to investigating foreign terrorist organizations
22:05for the sake of uncovering, disrupting, and ultimately dismantling them until they are completely wiped off the face of the earth by any means necessary.
22:16With today's victory, our fight continues with renewed favoritism.
22:21Thank you very much, and I'll turn it over to my colleague, Chad Yarbrough from the FBI.
22:29Thank you, Derek.
22:31Well, good afternoon.
22:32My name is Chad Yarbrough.
22:33I'm the operations director for the FBI, and I oversee our cartel efforts.
22:38Today's landmark guilty plea of Ismail Elmayo Zimbada marks a significant step forward in our ongoing fight against transnational organized crime
22:48and the deadly narcotics trade that threatens communities across this country.
22:52The guilty plea is not only a win for our communities, but a testament to the FBI's commitment to crush violent crime,
22:59to target cartels and gang activity under Attorney General Bondi.
23:03I want to take a few minutes to highlight our partners' extensive efforts throughout this investigation.
23:10And I can't do that without mentioning our law enforcement partners at DEA and HSI and DOJ,
23:17who are working tirelessly together to disrupt and dismantle these violent criminal networks.
23:24This case is the result of that close collaboration and years of deliberate efforts by our partners and the FBI, both here and in Mexico.
23:32For decades, the Sinaloa cartel has been one of the primary drivers of illegal narcotics flowing into the United States.
23:40When this investigation began, our Washington, D.C. field office was able to identify with our partners the cartel's two main leaders,
23:48Zimbada and Joaquin El Chapo Guzman.
23:51After Guzman's arrest in 2016, Zimbada continued to lead the Mayo faction of the Sinaloa cartel,
23:58which was responsible for trafficking multi-ton quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl,
24:04which killed thousands and thousands of our citizens in the United States.
24:09And in 2024, the FBI and our partners here were able to arrest Zimbada, which has led to this guilty plea today.
24:18Let me be clear.
24:20The guilty plea is not the end of this fight.
24:22The Sinaloa cartel may think that they're powerful and mighty, but rest assured,
24:28we are all up here because we have one goal in mind, and that is the destruction of the Sinaloa cartel.
24:33Now, I want the communities to know, not even the most senior leaders of this cartel and others can escape accountability.
24:40Let this be a message to all violent criminals and members of the cartels that the FBI, DEA, HSI, and DOJ
24:48will leverage everything we have, all of our resources and all of our expertise,
24:53to bring these individuals to justice and safeguard our communities.
25:03Good afternoon, everyone.
25:06Good afternoon, Madam Attorney General.
25:08Thank you for your leadership and your support.
25:10I'm Jason Redding-Quinones, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.
25:15For more than three decades, Ismael and Mayo Zimbada Garcia commanded one of the most violent criminal organizations in the world.
25:24Under his direction, the Sinaloa cartel used vast resources to bribe officials, intimidate rivals,
25:30torture their enemies, and murder witnesses, all to push poison in our community that ends today.
25:40With his guilty plea, Ed Mayo now faces a mandatory life sentence in federal prison.
25:45He will never again lead a cartel that fueled addiction, spread violence, and tore apart families on both sides of our border.
25:54Let me be clear to anyone who thinks they will take his place.
25:59We will find you.
26:01We will extradite you.
26:03We will prosecute you.
26:05And we will bring you to justice.
26:06I stand here shoulder to shoulder with our law enforcement partners, and I'm humbled by their extraordinary work.
26:15For years, agents and prosecutors quietly built this case, piece by piece, fact by fact, not for glory, but for justice.
26:27For justice for the thousands of victims left in the wake of the Mayo's reign of terror.
26:32Because of their courage, we are here today.
26:36I commend each of them.
26:38I especially recognize my assistant United States Attorneys, Andrea Goldberg and Monique Patero, for their relentless pursuit of justice.
26:49It's now my honor to introduce the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, Justin Simmons.
26:54Good afternoon.
26:59My name is Justin Simmons.
27:00I am the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas.
27:03I want to thank General Bondi for your support.
27:06Thank President Trump as well for his support in this case and many other cases like it that we will continue to bring.
27:13They provided the resources and, again, the support that was needed to make a day like today happen.
27:17Ismael Zimbada Garcia, in partnership with El Chapo Guzman, led the Sinaloa cartel for decades.
27:25In so doing, they brought millions of kilos of drugs into the United States.
27:32In so doing, they also imprisoned millions of Americans within the gray walls of addiction.
27:38Millions of their own countrymen within the gray walls of violence and fear.
27:43Now, he will spend the rest of his life behind walls of stone and steel.
27:51The Western District of Texas was especially affected by the activities of the Sinaloa cartel.
27:57You see, Juarez and El Paso are connected.
28:00Thousands of people every day cross through the various points of entries that connect the two cities and the two countries.
28:06Thousands used to cross illegally every day between the two countries.
28:11That's not happening so much anymore.
28:15Juarez affects El Paso.
28:18And so in 2008, when the Sinaloa cartel started fighting with the Juarez cartel to take control of that area,
28:2510,000 people were killed on the Mexican side.
28:30U.S. citizens, at least one U.S. citizen, was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered.
28:35And stray gunfire, being fired in Juarez, came across to El Paso.
28:41So those things that were going on, that were the product of the Sinaloa cartel's desire to take over that area,
28:47directly affected people of the Western District, and in El Paso in particular.
28:52So in April 2012, AUSAs and El Paso brought charges against El Mayo, Chapo, and 22 other members of the Sinaloa cartel.
29:03I want to take a moment to personally thank AUSA Tony Franco and AUSA Kyle Myers for their work on this case.
29:09One of those charges that he pled guilty to today was part of that indictment, part of that 2012 indictment.
29:18So this really has come full circle for us in the Western District of Texas as well.
29:23But really, today's not about the Western District of Texas.
29:27It's not about the Eastern District of New York, the Southern District of Florida, or any other district.
29:32It's about the government of the people, by the people, and for the people, delivering on a promise.
29:38A promise to eradicate Mexican drug cartels.
29:42That's what we're doing.
29:43And we're doing that so Americans can live freely, enjoy liberty, and pursue happiness.
29:50This is part of us delivering on that promise.
29:54And with that, I'll bring up Mr. Nocello once again.
30:02I want to thank everybody for coming.
30:04That concludes our press announcement.
30:08There will be no further proceedings and there are no questions, but I ask that everybody please
30:13remain in your seats as our speakers exit the room.
30:20Nothing on the parcels or the work that the DEA did.
30:23We have questions about that.
30:24We'd like to talk about it.
30:26We can take a – you all have stayed here all afternoon.
30:30We'd be glad to take a couple questions.
30:32Sure.
30:33Wait, let me get him in the back of the room first.
30:35Go ahead.
30:36Thank you so much.
30:36So on that point, I know as you wrap up these cartel leaders, you're focused on as well,
30:42presumably, the cash and assets that comes up with that.
30:45Here in New York City, the DEA for years has uncovered.
30:48There are people buying intellectual goods, shipping them to China, and their money comes back to
30:51Mexico.
30:52Where do those efforts stand today as far as following the money and really kind of grabbing
30:57more of the people that facilitate this?
30:59Yeah.
30:59If you couldn't hear you ask about following the money, following the money is always part
31:03of any of these criminal cases.
31:06That's how we're able to track and find them.
31:08I mean, this guy, Elmayo, was living like a king, and now he's living like a criminal for
31:13the rest of his life.
31:14He was living in a palace, and now he's going to be in a prison.
31:18So following the money is how we solve these cases.
31:21Terry, do you want to add a couple words to that with DEA?
31:24Absolutely.
31:25Thank you, Madam Attorney General.
31:27There is a large cash seizure associated with this forfeiture that we will get out here shortly.
31:36But more importantly, our work with the Mexican government is not done.
31:41Similar to what we did with RCQ that we brought to the United States, there are proceedings
31:46happening as we speak.
31:49Would you be in this case?
31:50Okay, hang on, hang on.
31:51We'll just take a few questions.
31:52Sir, sitting right there.
31:53Yeah, thank you so much.
31:54Mexican President, Claudia Sheinbaum, saying the U.S. government should collaborate with Mexico
31:59to understand how the U.S. authorities bring Elmayo Zambada, because for them it's not clear yet.
32:06What's your answer on that request?
32:08Well, first, we want to thank the Mexican authorities for all of their help in bringing all of these
32:15cartel leaders to justice.
32:18We're not going to comment on any of the specifics of any investigation, but we have brought, under
32:24Donald Trump's direction, we have brought more cartel leaders to justice than any other
32:29administration in this nation's history.
32:32Any other questions?
32:33Go ahead, Ellen.
32:34Why did he put a death penalty off the table in this case?
32:37So, Mexico, I've done this my entire career as a prosecutor when dealing with Mexico, we
32:43cannot seek the death penalty.
32:44We've always known that, and that's an agreement that we've had with Mexico when we get them
32:49to our country.
32:50That includes many others.
32:52This guy's 78 years old, but he will live like he's on death row, I can tell you that.
32:56He will live in a prison cell the rest of his life.
32:59Yes, sir.
33:00Can I ask the air bridge to cocaine and drug to the United States?
33:07What about Honduras air bridge?
33:09He asked about the air bridge.
33:10Air bridge is a term that is common in law enforcement for how drug traffickers move their
33:16drugs from multiple countries, Venezuela, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, to our country.
33:21It's called an air bridge.
33:23And they pay off government officials.
33:25They pay people off, they pay off law enforcement officers in their countries to ignore that and
33:31to let them fly undetected.
33:32We're looking at all that.
33:34We're looking at that in multiple countries.
33:36Thank you all for being here, and thank you.
33:40Great question.
33:43Thank you, sir.
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