Ismael Zambada García is a Mexican suspected drug lord and leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, an international crime syndicate based in Sinaloa state, Mexico. Before he assumed leadership of the entire cartel, he served as the logistical coordinator for its Zambada-García faction, which has overseen the trafficking of cocaine and heroin into Chicago and other US cities by train, ship, jet, or narco-submarine.
Biography
The former farmer turned drug lord began his criminal career by smuggling as little as a few kilograms of drugs at a time; however, it was only to gain a foothold before he went about increasing his gang's production of heroin and marijuana while also solidifying his position as a trafficker of Colombian cocaine. When drug lord Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo was arrested in 1989, 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. The Sinaloa Cartel drug lords were active in the states of Sinaloa, Durango, Chihuahua, Sonora, Nuevo León, and Michoacán. In 2006, the administration of President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against Mexico's drug trafficking networks. The Arellano Felix Organization, 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 has historically worked closely with the Juárez Cartel and the Carrillo Fuentes family, while maintaining independent ties to Colombian cocaine suppliers. Zambada has been wanted by Mexico's attorney general's office since 1998, when it issued bounties totaling $2.8 million USD on him and five other leaders of the Juárez Cartel. Zambada headed the Sinaloa Cartel in partnership with Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, until 2016 when El Chapo was captured. Zambada has now possibly assumed full command of the Sinaloa Cartel. Zambada is likely Mexico's most enduring and powerful drug lord. He may have had plastic surgery and disguised himself to move throughout Mexico.
Drug trafficking
Zambada García's organization, the Sinaloa Cartel, receives multi-ton quantities of cocaine, mostly by sea from Colombian sources. After receipt of the cocaine, the Sinaloa cartel 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, California, Illinois, and New York. Zambada operates primarily in the States of Sinaloa and Durango, but exerts influence along a large portion of Mexico's Pacific coast, as well as in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Sonora, Monterrey and Nuevo Leon. Ismael Zambada has been featured on America's Most Wanted, and the FBI is offering up to US$5 million for information leading to his capture. On 20 October 2008, 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. His son, Ismael "Mayito" Zambada Jr. has been sought for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance in the United States. His other son, Vicente Zambada Niebla, was arrested by the Mexican Army on 18 March 2009. On 24 June 2020, it was revealed that Zambada had been willing to give former top Mexican drug lords Rafael and Miguel Caro Quintero high ranking positions in the Sinaloa Cartel if they agreed to join. However, the effort to recruit the Caro Quintero brothers faltered as Zambada's health declined and El Chapo's sons, who were less willing to grant them leadership, gained more influence.
Family
His wife Rosario Niebla Cardoza, brother Jesús, sons Vicente Zambada-Niebla, Serafín Zambada-Ortiz, and Ismael Zambada-Imperial, as well as his four daughters, María Teresa, Midiam Patricia, Mónica del Rosario, and Modesta played an active role in narcotics' distribution and money laundering. His son-in-law, Juan Gabriel González Ibarra, husband of Midiam Patricia, died after suffering an electric shock at his home in Culiacán on 18 June 2014. Ismael Zambada relies on currency shipments to move drug proceeds across the United States–Mexico border.
Health issues
In June 2020, former DEA agent Mike Vigil revealed that Zambada was "sick with diabetes."
