Sinaloa Cartel co-founder El Mayo sentenced to life in a US prison
Mexico questions FBI’s role in Sinaloa Cartel kidnappings
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is harshly criticizing the US government for its alleged involvement in the 2024 kidnapping of former Sinaloa Cartel boss ‘El Mayo’ Zambada. Sheinbaum makes it clear that he lied about U.S. involvement, claiming that Mexican sovereignty was violated. This incident raises serious questions about diplomatic relations between the two countries and American intervention in Mexico.
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Mexican Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia, co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, was sentenced to life in a U.S. prison on Monday and ordered to forfeit $15 billion in profits from drug trafficking, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan said he had no choice but to impose a life sentence because the charges carry a mandatory life sentence, but he believed it was the correct sentence.
“The almost unimaginable amount of drugs attributable to him and the number of murders we have been able to document are sufficient to justify Congress’ decision to make this a mandatory life sentence,” the judge said.
He is one of the most high-profile Mexican drug traffickers convicted by a U.S. judge since Sinaloa leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was sentenced to life in prison in 2019.
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A photo of former Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia being detained by federal agents is displayed next to the Beechcraft King Air plane used in July 2024 to transport Garcia and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of notorious narcotics leader “El Chapo” Guzman, to the United States to the War Eagles Air Museum in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. (REUTERS/Paul Ratje)
Garcia, 76, agreed to plead guilty to multiple charges, including racketeering conspiracy and continuing criminal enterprise, in August 2025 after the Justice Department said it would not seek the death penalty.
In July 2024, he was arrested along with one of Guzman’s sons, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, after their plane landed in the United States. Guzman Lopez has since pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including drug trafficking and kidnapping in July 2024.
Federal prosecutor Joseph Nocella told reporters after Garcia’s sentencing that Guzman Lopez confessed to kidnapping Garcia in an attempt to secure the leniency and credibility of U.S. law enforcement.
A trophy sign for former Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia standing next to the Beechcraft King Air plane used to transport Garcia and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of notorious narcotics leader “El Chapo” Guzman, to the War Eagles Air Museum in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, in July 2024. (REUTERS/Paul Ratje)
“The United States has made it clear that we do not approve of the kidnapping and that it will not be respected,” Nocella said. he said.
Guzman Lopez has not been sentenced yet.
Garcia told the court during Monday’s sentencing that he took responsibility for the damage he caused.
“No one can win in such a war. I tell future generations to choose a different path,” he said.
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Cogan recommended that Garcia be placed in a facility where he could receive adequate medical care because he suffered from a variety of progressive health conditions.
“Ismael Zambada Garcia spent nearly four decades poisoning American communities and ordering the killing of anyone who stood in his way to make billions of dollars in profits. Today, that page is closed for good,” Nocella said in a statement. he said.
Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia was sentenced to life in prison in the United States. (REUTERS/Gustavo Graf)
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“He will spend the rest of his life in a US prison, which is exactly where he belongs,” he added. This sentencing was made possible thanks to the tireless bilateral cooperation between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement agencies, who did not allow El Mayo’s years as a fugitive from justice to become a permanent situation. “We hope today’s sentencing brings some measure of justice to the countless victims of the Sinaloa Cartel’s drug trafficking and violence.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
