Mexico Wants in on Cartel Boss' Billions

Mexico's president is calling on the US to channel some of the billions of dollars seized from Sinaloa cartel co-founder Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada back across the border. In pleading guilty Monday to US charges of drug trafficking and murder, the 77-year-old Zambada agreed to forfeit some $15 billion in assets, per CBS News. Speaking Wednesday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that "if the United States government were to recover resources, then we would be asking for them to be given to Mexico for the poorest people."

The request comes amid speculation that Zambada's capture—following the downfall of his cartel co-founder Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman—might cripple the Sinaloa operation. Mexican officials, however, caution that while some cartel factions have weakened, the organization remains a formidable force, operating on both sides of the US-Mexico border. Sheinbaum said the country would seek seized resources "because of the harm caused to the Mexican population," per Anadolu Agency. "And they should be distributed to the people—to the most humble," she said.