The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, stated this Tuesday that her Government will seek to recover for the country the assets that the United States manages to seize from drug trafficker Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, after the life sentence handed down by the US Justice and the confiscation order for 15,000 million dollars.
“If there is seizure of assets from any drug trafficker or white-collar criminal who is in the United States, we will request that (what was confiscated) be delivered to Mexico within the framework of the laws, because the main damage was carried out here and what is determined within the framework of the collaboration laws,” said the president during her morning conference.
Asked if her Government will request part of what was confiscated from the drug trafficker, the president indicated that, when there are assets or resources that have been effectively confiscated, Mexico will request that they be delivered to the State, in accordance with bilateral cooperation mechanisms.
“In all these cases, if there is a seizure, it is requested that it be delivered,” he said.
Sheinbaum maintained that the resources recovered from illicit activities must benefit the Mexican population.
"Everything that is beneficial for the people of Mexico. That is our function and our task.
Last July, a federal judge in New York sentenced Zambada, 76, to life in prison after pleading guilty to charges related to cocaine and fentanyl trafficking.
The sentence did not include a financial fine, but it did order the confiscation of $15 billion, an amount requested by the US Attorney's Office as an estimate of the profits obtained by the drug trafficker during decades of criminal activity.
However, Sheinbaum clarified that this figure does not represent assets already located or seized, but rather an estimate made by US authorities of the illicit profits attributed to the co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel.
“It is an estimate of the damage that Mayo Zambada could have caused during the entire period he served as a criminal, which was part of drug trafficking,” he emphasized.
Before hearing the ruling, Zambada read a letter in which he apologized to the victims of his actions, called for an end to the violence in Mexico and assured that he assumed responsibility for his crimes. EFE
