Vicente Zambada Niebla

On 8 November 2018, a plea agreement was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Illinois in which Zambada plead guilty to working with El Chapo and others to illegally import into the United States thousands of kilos of cocaine. Zambada and others used private planes, submarines, and speedboats to smuggle the drugs from Colombia to Mexico, and then into the United States. In return for Zambada's cooperation the government recommended more lenient sentencing guidelines and that measures be taken to ensure his family's safety. These included having Zambada and his family be allowed to remain permanently in the United States.

Zambada was charged with trafficking more than a billion dollars' worth of cocaine and heroin. However, Zambada claims that he is covered by an immunity deal between Mexico and the U.S., and that, because Sinaloa Cartel leaders provided federal agents with information about rival drug gangs, he should go free. As revealed in a 2013 plea bargain deal which was made public by a U.S. District Court in 2014, Zambada admitted coordinating smuggling tons of cocaine and heroin with "El Chapo," Joaquín Guzmán Loera, and agreed to forfeit assets of $1.37 billion to the US government. The plea bargain resulted in a fine of $4 million and 10 years in prison. He is considered a top potential witness against "El Chapo."

Jesús Vicente Zambada Niebla (born 24 March 1975), also known as "El Vicentillo", is a Mexican convicted drug lord and high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal group based in Sinaloa. He is the son of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, one of Mexico's most-wanted drug lords. He was arrested in Mexico City on 19 March 2009 and extradited to the United States in February 2010 to stand trial on narco-trafficking-related charges. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison on 30 May 2019. Due to his cooperation in testifying against several members of the Sinaloa Cartel, his conviction term was reduced.