Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambadaone of the founders of Sinaloa Cartel, He is going through a complicated situation while facing 17 federal charges in the United States. Among the accusations of drug trafficking, money laundering, possession of firearms and homicide, the drug trafficker could face from one life imprisonment up to a death sentence.
However, according to the journalist Luis ChaparroZambada García is focusing his legal strategy on a key negotiation with the American authorities: being sent to a prison with more humane conditions than those endured by his former partner, Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmánconfined in the ADX Florence in Colorado, known as the “Alcatraz of the Rockies.”
“The only thing he is apparently negotiating is that he not be sent to the same prison as ‘El Chapo’, that is what he does not want, as if he is negotiating nothing more than ‘put me in a prison for a year.’ a little more benevolent where I can live with more people, where I have sun, and there I die or however long you tell me, I don’t care, but as long as they don’t take me to one of these prisons,” he said in one interview with Adela Micha in her program “Me lo told Adela”.
The security and organized crime expert indicated that, under this context, the Mexican kingpin would be willing to accept any sentence as long as they guarantee him less severe treatment than the total isolation faced by drug cartel figures. racketeering of your level.
The Mexican boss could be using his extensive knowledge of the drug trafficking and political corruption as a bargaining chip to achieve their objectives, because according to the journalist, “El Mayo” Zambada is a “50-year-old computer of narcopolitics, drug trafficking, corruption, money laundering, murders,” he indicated.
The communicator added that being a “encyclopedia of crime” It has a lot of value and those memories and realities can be interesting if you start sharing them, because you may be the only one who has memories of sitting with mayors, governors, presidents, police chiefs, among other officials.
For its part, the journalist Ioan Grilloalso interviewed by Micha, explained that, although Zambada is unlikely to obtain a significant reduction in his sentence, his cooperation could influence the conditions of his confinement.
“Due to his level of influence, he could not be released in two or three years like some collaborators, but he could avoid a prison of total isolation,” Grillo commented, recalling that a scenario in which he could be treated the same as Vicente Zambada Niebla, alias ‘El Vicentillo’o Damaso Lopez Serrano, aka ‘The Mini Lic’who received short sentences and benefits for being a protected witness and cooperating witness, respectively.
ADX Florence, known as the “Alcatraz of the Rockies,” is a maximum security prison located in the state of ColoradoUSA. Designed to house the most dangerous and notorious inmates in the country, this prison is noted for its extreme isolation and strict security measures, which have led some experts to describe it as a “supermax” inhuman.
Built in 1994, ADX Florence is home to terrorists, organized crime leaders and other high-profile criminals, like ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán. The inmates pass until 23 hours a day in individual 2×3 meter cellsbuilt of concrete to prevent leaks and equipped only with a bed, a toilet and a small desk.
Human contact is practically non-existent. Interactions are limited to occasional encounters with prison staff or controlled visits, while communications external are strictly monitored. Inmates have access to a small outdoor patio, fenced and without visual contact with other inmates.
The prison has been criticized by organizations human rights which point out that conditions of extreme isolation can cause irreversible psychological damage. Despite this, ADX Florence remains the most secure facility in the US prison system, designed to ensure that inmates pose no risk, either inside or outside its walls.
Ismael Zambada García was arrested last July 25 in New Mexico, allegedly taken against his will by Joaquín Guzmán Lópezson of “El Chapo”, who according to the veteran capo, ambushed, kidnapped and transported him by plane as part of a plan to seek judicial advantages for him and his brother Ovidio Guzmán López.
After his capture, he was transferred to New York, where he faces his trial in the Federal Court of the Eastern District of New York, under the jurisdiction of the Judge Brian Coganthe same one that sentenced Guzmán Loera to life imprisonment in 2019.
The next hearing of Zambada is scheduled for January 15, 2025, where his defense is expected to present strategies to influence the course of the trial and define the conditions of the capo’s confinement.
Although Zambada pleaded “not guilty” At his first hearing, the weight of evidence and criminal history linking him to drug trafficking, including fentanyl and methamphetamines, make US authorities consider the case a high priority.
The negotiation for a more lenient prison could be the last bet for Zambada, who, aware of his age and state of health, seems to focus more on his living conditions than on avoiding a long sentence.
