“El Mayo,” the senior Mexican drug lord who succeeded “El Chapo” in running the notorious cartel, confessed in Brooklyn court on Monday to perpetuating a violent drug trafficking operation that flooded the US with heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl over the years.

Ismael Zambada, 75, the former right-hand man to the brutal ex-head of the Sinaloa Cartel, Joaquin Guzman, reached an agreement with federal authorities. He admitted to charges of engaging in a long-term criminal enterprise and racketeering conspiracy more than a year following his capture in the US.

Zambada’s guilty plea, which mandates a life sentence, comes after federal prosecutors decided not to pursue the death penalty. Earlier this year, the cartel he co-founded with Guzman was labeled a foreign terrorist organization by President Trump.

Prosecutors said Zambada oversaw a highly militarized gang that had a private security force and a slew of hitmen ready to assassinate, torture and kidnap.

The cartel kingpin, along with one of El Chapo’s sons, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, flew to Texas on July 24, 2024, and was arrested on the spot.

While authorities said Zambada was tricked into jumping on the flight, he claimed he was “kidnapped” and forced to fly to the US.

Zambada, whose case was moved from Texas to Brooklyn after his arrest, faced a slew of federal counts, including murder conspiracy.

Another son of El Chapo, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in July – becoming the first of the drug lord’s sons to fall.

El Chapo is serving a life sentence after he was convicted in 2019 of heading the drug trafficking operation that flooded the US with billions of dollars worth of deadly narcotics.