Sinaloa Cartel co-founder 'El Mayo' Zambada sentenced to life in US
Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, co-founder of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, was sentenced to life in a US federal prison and ordered to forfeit $15 billion. He had pleaded guilty to running a decades-long drug trafficking operation that sent vast quantities of narcotics into the United States.
A US federal judge sentenced Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the 78-year-old co-founder of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, to life in prison on Thursday, closing one of the highest-profile chapters in the decades-long US campaign against Mexican drug trafficking organizations. Zambada had pleaded guilty earlier this year to running the cartel's smuggling operations for more than three decades.
As part of the sentence, Zambada was also ordered to forfeit $15 billion in assets tied to drug proceeds, one of the largest forfeiture orders ever issued in a US narcotics case. Prosecutors said the cartel under his leadership moved vast quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl across the US border.
Zambada was captured in 2024 after landing on a private plane in New Mexico under circumstances that remain disputed. His sentencing marks a symbolic milestone for US authorities, though officials caution that the Sinaloa Cartel's networks remain active despite the loss of its founding leadership.
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