“El Vicentillo” has reportedly already visited “El Mayo” Zambada in prison, according to Anabel Hernández

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada’s guilty plea marks the end of one of the longest and most solid criminal careers in Mexican drug trafficking. After more than five decades leading the Sinaloa Cartel and evading justice, the kingpin appeared last Monday in federal court in New York, where he admitted his role in drug trafficking networks and a system of corruption that involved officials at the highest levels of the Mexican government.

There has been much speculation about the reasons that led “El Mayo” to decide to cooperate with US authorities; however, according to journalist Anabel Hernández, among the most decisive incentives were at least two: his fear of dying and his family ties.

According to the journalist in her most recent episode of the Narcosistema podcast, the first key incentive for the drug lord’s agreement with authorities was to avoid the death penalty and extreme prison conditions, due to his health at 75 years of age.