Capo Vicente Zambada Promised Never To Return To The Sinaloa Cartel, But Nobody Knows Where He Is

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

The United States government has remained silent on the whereabouts of the son of Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, one of the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel. If this convicted trafficker nicknamed 'El Vicentillo' is no longer in a cell, then he would be serving his second term of five years of supervised release.

The location of drug trafficker Vicente Zambada Niebla, the eldest son of Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, who leads a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, is a complete mystery. A few days after the United States Department of the Treasury removed him from its blacklist, no one knows information about 'El Vicentillo'.

The US Marshals Service, who had his custody in the last period of his sentence reduced to 15 years in prison (which is believed to have already been served), has not responded to questions made by this medium about whether Zambada Niebla is still under custody. of the. Nor did his defense attorney Frank Pérez speak out.

That silence leaves in the air the question of whether the son of 'El Mayo' has received the last reward for testifying in the trial of drug trafficker Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán in 2019: staying to live in this country with another identity, as part of the US Marshals Witness Protection Program.

He could be seen as the only option to guarantee his safety and that of his family, especially now that there is enmity between the faction headed by his father and the one controlled by Guzmán's four sons.

The Bureau of Prisons said in April 2021 that Zambada Niebla was no longer in one of his cells, which didn’t mean that he was a free man at that time. And if he is now, he would be serving the second punishment imposed on him by federal judge Rubén Castillo: five years of probation, a regime by which he must comply with a series of rules, such as not having communication with people involved in organized crime, notifying every time you change your address and avoid any legal problem.

Zambada Niebla, 47, stated at his sentencing hearing in a Chicago federal court on May 30, 2019 that he wanted his family to have a life very different from his own, since from a very young age he became involved in the illegal activities of his family. father. He was 11 when his mother and grandmother were shot, and he was 16 when they first tried to kill him. That is why he promised in court that he would never return to the cartel. This was part of what he said that day in court:

I would like to thank you (the judge) for the opportunity to express all my regret and regret for the poor decisions I have made in the past. And the best way to start, I think, is to apologize to all those people who in one way or another I hurt directly or indirectly.

I would also like to apologize to my children, my wife and the woman who gave me life, who is my mother, because they have also suffered a lot for everything we have been going through.

I would like to tell you, Your Honor, that this repentance did not occur yesterday, nor did it occur today because I am in front of you about to receive my sentence. I would like to respectfully tell you that this feeling of repentance has been with me for years and I believe that the people who are by my side here, the prosecutors and my lawyers, will not allow me to lie to them, because I have proven my repentance with actions and not just with words.

Today I feel that I can be a better father, a better husband. I feel that I can be a better son and, above all, a better human being. I have sacrificed a lot in leaving you and taking you out of the world we lived in.

I would like to tell you, Your Honor, that without hesitation I would do it all over again as long as I can see them happy, free from all fear, see them live a peaceful life and most of all a happy life. I believe that everyone deserves a second chance. Today you have that opportunity in your hands.

Guitar, piano and painting

As a prelude to his acceptance of responsibility, a strategy to seek a less severe punishment, his lawyer Frank Pérez said that his client shared with him that "he did not want his family to have the same life as him" and "he wanted to get out of that life."

A few days before the sentencing hearing, a son of Zambada Niebla received a college degree in automotive design and real estate. "He said: 'I am so happy that my son is here and is having a different life,'" the lawyer said.

Although his client managed to escape from his father's enemies, relatives and acquaintances did not free him, according to Pérez. “They were looking for them (Zambada García, his wife and his children). They couldn't find them, so they killed friends and family," he said.

According to the lawyer, 'El Vicentillo' became a "model prisoner" who taught himself to paint, play the guitar and the piano. He also read more than 400 books, he said.

But Judge Castillo didn’t hesitate to describe Zambada Niebla as the most powerful capo he had had in his court in the 19 years he had been dispensing justice.

"His offense against him is very serious," stressed the magistrate. "Between approximately 1996 and 2008, you supervised massive shipments of narcotics from Central and South America to Mexico and eventually to the United States... Only last year (2018) more than 30,000 people died there (in Mexico)" due to drug trafficking, Castillo reproached. .

The judge also emphasized other violent crimes committed by Zambada García and that he himself confessed in the trial of "El Chapo" in Brooklyn.

- Mr. Zambada, have you ever personally killed someone? - No. 

- Have you ever transmitted an order for someone to die? - Yes, many times.

- How often? - I don't know, but it was several times.

The magistrate's dissertation touched on several points, from the drug war that he considered lost, to the alleged remorse that 'El Vicentillo' claimed to have for having betrayed his father and his compadre, 'El Chapo', whom he addressed with respect in the New York court.

“What I would tell you is that you made the right decision to cooperate. I consider your cooperation to be extraordinary,” Judge Castillo said.

“If people would think straight, they would value cooperative witnesses because cooperative witnesses help our country win the war on crime. And we may have lost the war on drugs, but we can't afford to lose the war on crime,” he stressed.

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