This image provided by the U.S. Department of State shows Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, a historic leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel. (U.S. Department of State via AP)
"It gives Trump powerful political leverage," Brian Townsend, a retired supervisory special agent with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), told Fox News Digital Monday. "I expect him to use this moment to rally public support for more aggressive cross‑border operations and tougher measures against Mexico."
"Zambada admitted in court that for decades he paid off Mexican generals, governors, and politicians," Townsend said. "These are words directly from the mouth of one of the world’s biggest drug traffickers. It confirms what we have been seeing for decades: Mexico’s institutions have been deeply compromised."
Zambada’s plea deal requires the cartel boss to forfeit $15 billion. Meanwhile, Zambada’s attorney, Frank Perez, said in a Monday statement that the cartel boss will not comply with U.S. government officials, signaling he’d be unwilling to disclose any information on the cartel system to the U.S.
"The agreement that he reached with the U.S. authorities is a matter of public record," Perez said in a statement, according to ABC News. "It is not a cooperation agreement, and I can state categorically that there is no deal under which he is cooperating with the United States Government or any other government."
Perez could not be reached for comment by Fox News Digital.
The Trump administration has moved to crack down on cartels, and designated groups like the Sinaloa, Tren de Aragua and others as foreign terrorist organizations in February. Doing so blocks the groups from using the U.S. financial system, aiming to hamper their ability to carry out operations.
MEXICO TO EXTRADITE 26 TOP CARTEL LEADERS TO US IN TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DEAL
Interstates hundreds of miles from the border are used to traffic drugs across the U.S. (Fox News)
Nathan Jones, a nonresident scholar in drug policy and Mexico studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, said that Zambada’s guilty plea does place additional pressure on Mexico to comply with U.S. requests, although U.S. troops in Mexico would be perceived as a violation of Mexican sovereignty.
"For Mexico, you've got a very sensitive issue, and American boots on the ground without permission is highly problematic," Jones told Fox News Digital Tuesday. "But there are ways that the Mexican government can without violating their own sovereignty. Work with the United States, U.S. law enforcement can be there."
Zambada’s sentencing is scheduled for January, where he faces a mandatory minimum term of life in prison for leading a continuing criminal enterprise, and a maximum sentence of life in prison for the racketeering charge, according to the Justice Department.
"This foreign terrorist committed horrific crimes against the American people — he will now pay for those crimes by spending the rest of his life behind bars in an American prison," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement Monday. "Today marks a crucial victory in President Trump’s ongoing fight to completely eliminate foreign terrorist organizations and protect American citizens from deadly drugs and violence."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trumps-cartel-crackdown-gains-powerful-political-leverage-el-mayo-guilty-plea