Washington, D.C. — The head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has declared that his agency will pursue not only drug traffickers but also corrupt government officials who enable them, following the life sentence handed down to Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
DEA Administrator Terrance Cole said in a statement that Zambada’s sentencing sends a clear message to all cartels and foreign terrorist organizations: “No matter how powerful they become or how long they evade justice, the DEA will never stop pursuing them.”
“For decades, Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada Garcia helped lead the Sinaloa Cartel — now designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization — fueling violence, corrupting public institutions, and trafficking fentanyl into the United States, where it has become a weapon of mass destruction that has taken countless American lives,” Cole said.
He added that the outcome reflects the determination of the DEA and its law enforcement partners, who never stopped investigating the case. “Justice has no expiration date, and neither does our resolve. We will continue to pursue the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel and every criminal organization that threatens the American people,” he stated.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said Zambada will never again “sow terror, corrupt public officials, or traffic deadly drugs into our communities that ruin Americans and their families.”
Cole had previously asserted a link between criminal groups and the Mexican federal government during an official meeting in Orlando, Florida, last week. He said both entities operate as a single working structure, and that the agency’s priority is to combat facilitators and protectors of drug trafficking networks. The DEA reported seizing 568 million doses of fentanyl in recent months.
On June 25, Cole stated that the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) are the DEA’s number one priority. In a social media message marking the “Fentanyl-Free America” operation, he said the drug represents an unprecedented threat that has shattered families and devastated communities.
“The Mexican cartels, Sinaloa and CJNG, are the DEA’s number one priority… The American people expect and deserve the DEA to eliminate this threat, and that is exactly what we are doing,” Cole said.
