Notorious drug cartel leader Ismael Zambada sentenced to life in US prison
Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, one of the most notorious figures in Mexico’s drug cartels, will spend the rest of his life in prison, a US judge has ruled, two years after the ringleader was lured to the US in a complex operation.
The 76-year-old man, who founded the Sinaloa Cartel with Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, apologized in court and was also ordered to pay $15bn (£11bn).
In 2024, El Chapo’s son convinced Zambada that they were traveling to northern Mexico to inspect secret airstrips, but their plane landed in Texas and he was arrested.
Last year, Zambada reached a plea deal and pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and conspiracy charges in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan sentenced Zambada during a hearing in Brooklyn federal court. Confessing his guilt carried a mandatory life sentence.
Zambada spoke through a Spanish translator during the hearing. He stated that he was sorry “for the damage I caused and the example I set” and called on future generations to “choose a different path”.
“If there’s one thing I can say today that has value, it’s this: The violence must end,” the former cartel boss said.
“In Mexico and elsewhere affected by such crimes, too many lives are lost, too many families are destroyed, and too many young people are trapped in a cycle that leads only to imprisonment or death.”
According to the justice department, the $15 billion he was ordered to pay represents drug trafficking profits from his role as the top leader of a criminal organization.
El Chapo’s son, Joaquin Guzmán Lopez, was also arrested in July 2024 and pleaded guilty to federal drug charges. He has not been sentenced yet.
In the plea agreement, Zambada formally acknowledged his role in creating the vast criminal network that shipped large amounts of cocaine and other drugs to the United States since he founded the Sinaloa Cartel in the late 1980s.
“Ismael Zambada Garcia spent nearly four decades poisoning American communities and ordering the killing of anyone who stood in his way to reap billions of dollars in profits,” Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.
“Today this chapter closes for good.”
Prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum that Zambada was “one of the most prolific and powerful drug traffickers in the world,” according to the BBC’s US partner CBS.
The Sinaloa Cartel has been at war with itself since Zambada’s detention, causing turmoil in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. Hundreds of people were reported missing during clashes between two rival groups.
Following El Chapo’s arrest and extradition to the United States in 2016, violence and bloodshed also rocked the cartel as groups competed for control of territory, fighting opposing drug gangs sensing weakness. He is also serving a life sentence.
One of the issues that has arisen since Zambada pleaded guilty is where he will serve his sentence.
He requested to be sent to the prison hospital, saying he would need medical attention due to age-related health problems. It has been learned that he has been in poor health in recent years.
But federal prosecutors are seeking a higher prison sentence, arguing that Zambada still poses a security threat while behind bars and could continue to run illegal drug operations.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons will make the final decision on where he will be held, even though it seems almost certain he will die in U.S. custody.
On his first day back in office, US President Donald Trump announced that he would increase pressure on Mexico and the cartels and designate criminal organizations as terrorist groups.
The US also accused Sinaloa’s governor of conspiring with drug traffickers.
The Mexican government has also taken more aggressive action against the cartels, sending thousands of soldiers to Sinaloa.
The question of what Zambada’s sentence means for the Sinaloa cartel is unclear.
It probably won’t change the status quo.
Organized crime is advancing rapidly in Mexico, and El Mayo’s former foot soldiers have already adapted to life without him. It is also not expected to significantly impact cocaine and fentanyl traffic into the United States.
Even from an influential crime boss like El Mayo Zambada, there is always someone else ready to take over.
