Mexican drug trafficker Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Tuesday for co-founding and leading the notorious Sinaloa Cartel.
Zambada was one of the most prominent Mexican drug traffickers to face sentencing in a United States court since Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán was sentenced to life in prison in 2019.
U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan said, “The almost unimaginable amount of drugs he caused and the number of murders we can document is enough to justify Congress’s decision to make it a mandatory life sentence.”
Zambada, 76, apologized “for the harm I have caused and for the example I have set” and urged future generations to “choose a different path.”
Zambada apologized before sentencing
She was arrested in July 2024 after she said she was kidnapped in Mexico and taken to Texas.
Zambada helped found and lead the Sinaloa Cartel, becoming one of the most wanted men by US intelligence and law enforcement agencies for decades.
According to prosecutors, he ordered torture and plotted murders, including the murder of his own nephew, as the cartel flooded the U.S. with cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine and other drugs.
He pleaded guilty to 85 underlying crimes, pleading guilty to charges that included engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise and conspiracy to commit racketeering. In exchange, prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.
“I grew up in an environment where violence and crime seemed normal, but now I know that’s no excuse,” Zambada said in court Monday. “There comes a time when every person must take responsibility for their decisions. I didn’t, and many people paid the price.”
‘El Chapo’ partner joins cartel leaders serving life sentences
Zambada’s former partner “El Chapo” is already serving a life sentence in the United States.
He was convicted in 2019 and is serving a life sentence in a federal supermax prison in Florence, Colorado.
Together they made the Sinaloa Cartel one of the most powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world.
The Sinaloa Cartel is one of six Mexican drug gangs designated as foreign terrorist organizations by US President Donald Trump.
Zambada was arrested along with Joaquín Guzmán López, one of El Chapo’s sons who has pleaded guilty to federal drug charges. He is yet to be sentenced.
Zambada’s arrest shattered the Sinaloa Cartel, pitting his loyalists against supporters of Guzmán’s sons, known as Chapitos or “little Chapos”.
Edited by: Jennifer Cimino Gonzalez
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