Former Mexican cartel kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada is expected to plead guilty Monday to federal charges related to his role in the violent drug trade that for years flooded the US with cocaine, heroin and other illicit substances.

Former Mexican drug kingpin Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada admitted in a U.S. courtroom on Monday to ordering murders and shipping millions of kilograms of cocaine during his decades-long leadership of the violent Sinaloa cartel.