Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, one of the founders of Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa Cartel, has been sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States.
US District Judge Brian Cogan handed down the sentence on Monday, ordering the 76-year-old drug kingpin to spend the rest of his life behind bars and pay $15 billion (£11 billion) in criminal proceeds.
Zambada reached a plea agreement last year, admitting to drug smuggling and conspiracy charges in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.
Lured to the US in 2024 Sting Operation
Zambada was arrested in 2024 after Joaquin Guzmán Lopez, the son of imprisoned cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, allegedly tricked him into boarding a plane he believed was heading to northern Mexico. Instead, the aircraft landed in Texas, where US authorities arrested him.
The Sinaloa Cartel co-founder admitted his role in building one of the world’s largest drug trafficking organisations. One responsible for smuggling massive quantities of cocaine and other narcotics into the United States for decades.
US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr said: “Ismael Zambada Garcia spent nearly four decades poisoning American communities to make billions of dollars in profit and ordering the murders of anyone who stood in his way. Today, that chapter closes for good.”
Cartel Violence Continues
Since Zambada’s capture, the Sinaloa Cartel has been engulfed in an internal power struggle between rival factions. One that has triggered widespread violence across Mexico’s Sinaloa state.
Authorities say hundreds of people have disappeared during the conflict.
Federal prosecutors argued that Zambada remained “one of the most-if not the most-prolific and powerful narco traffickers in the world.” They proceeded by urging prison authorities to keep him in a high-security facility. This comes in response to his request to serve his sentence in a prison hospital due to age-related health concerns.
The final decision on where Ismael Zambada will serve his life sentence rests with the US Federal Bureau of Prisons.
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