Billionaire Partner of Imprisoned Chapo Consolidates Empire
- Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada remains in charge of Sinaloa Cartel
- The former poppy-field worker is now worth at least $3 billion
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His long-time partner, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, is on trial in New York on drug-trafficking charges. His son, who pleaded guilty to smuggling tons of cocaine and heroin into the U.S., is scheduled to be sentenced in Chicago next month.
That leaves Ismael Zambada Garcia, a 70-year-old former poppy-field worker better known as “El Mayo,” fighting to keep a grip on the world’s largest drug cartel and a fortune that the Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimates is at least $3 billion. U.S. authorities are seeking the forfeiture of $14 billion from Chapo as jury selection got underway Monday under tight security.