Drug cartel leader Ismael Zambada has been sentenced to life in prison in the US
One of the most notorious people in the drug cartels in Mexico, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, will spend the rest of his life in prison, an American judge has decided, after two years of Zambada being in the United States doing hard labor.
The 76-year-old, who co-founded the violent Sinaloa Cartel with Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, was also ordered to pay $15bn (£11bn).
In 2024, El Chapo’s son led Zambada to believe that they were going to northern Mexico to check out hidden airports, when their plane landed in Texas he was arrested.
Last year, Zambada reached a plea deal and pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and conspiracy to avoid the death penalty.
On Monday, US District Judge Brian Cogan sentenced Zambada during a trial in federal court in Brooklyn. His guilty plea carried a mandatory life sentence, Reuters reported.
The $15bn he was ordered to pay represents drug-trafficking profits from his role as a key leader of the criminal enterprise, according to the Department of Justice.
El Chapo’s son, Joaquin Guzmán Lopez, was also arrested in July 2024 and pleaded guilty to drug charges. He has yet to be sentenced.
In the plea agreement, Zambada formally acknowledged his role in creating the largest criminal network that has shipped large amounts of cocaine and other drugs to the US since he founded the Sinaloa Cartel in the late 1980s.
“Ismael Zambada Garcia has spent nearly four decades poisoning American communities for billions of dollars in profits and ordering the execution of anyone who stands in his way,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. of the Eastern District of New York in a statement.
“Today that chapter closes forever.”
Prosecutors argue in a sentencing memo that Zambada is “one of the most productive and powerful drug traffickers in the world”, according to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.
The Sinaloa Cartel has been fighting since Zambada’s arrest and has been wreaking havoc in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. Hundreds of people were reported missing during the fighting between the two warring factions.
Violence and bloodshed again rocked the wagons after El Chapo was arrested and extradited to the US in 2016, as the sides battled for control of the area while fighting rival gangs they saw as weak. He is struggling in prison.
Another thing that has emerged since Zambada agreed to plead guilty is where he will serve his sentence.
He asked to be sent to the prison hospital, saying he would need medical attention for age-related health problems.
Federal prosecutors, however, are seeking a higher level of incarceration, arguing Zambada still poses a security risk while outside bars and can continue to direct illegal drug operations.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons will make the final decision about where he lives.
On his first day back in office, US President Donald Trump announced that he would increase pressure on Mexico and the cartels, including designating terrorist groups for criminal enterprises. The US has also accused the Sinaloa governor of conspiring with drug cartels.
The Mexican government, too, has taken aggressive measures against the cartels and sent thousands of soldiers to Sinaloa.
