Trump’s cartel crackdown gains ‘powerful political leverage’ with El Mayo guilty plea

Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, is set to face the rest of his life behind bars as the Trump administration ramps up its efforts to dismantle cartels. Zambada, 75, confessed in a Brooklyn courtroom Monday that he had coordinated with Mexican officials to smuggle drugs into the U.S. for decades — and ultimately pleaded guilty to serving as principal leader of a continuing criminal enterprise and racketeering conspiracy. The Trump administration has pledged to take down the cartels — and experts predict Zambada’s guilty plea paves the way for the Justice Departmen