Mexican drug lord Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada sentenced to life in US prison

US judge hands life sentence to Ismael Zambada for leading one of Mexico’s most violent drug cartels for decades.Mexican drug kingpin Ismael “El ⁠Mayo” Zambada has been sentenced to life in prison in the United States, after a plea deal last year in which he admitted to shipping millions ⁠of kilogrammes of cocaine over decades as leader of the violent Sinaloa Cartel.US District Judge Brian Cogan handed down the sentence on Monday at a hearing in a US federal court in Brooklyn, New York. Zambada is one of the most high-profile Mexican drug traffickers to be sentenced in a US court since fellow Sinaloa leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was sentenced to life in prison in 2019.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Mexico’s Sheinbaum questions US claims of drug ties to Sinaloa governorlist 2 of 3Who are Mexico’s top cartel bosses killed or arrested in recent years?list 3 of 3Is the US arming Mexican cartels?end of listZambada, 76, agreed to plead guilty in August 2025 to charges including racketeering conspiracy and continuing criminal enterprise after the US Justice Department said it would not seek the death penalty.The charges carried a mandatory life sentence. Zambada was arrested in July 2024 alongside Joaquin Guzman Lopez, one of Guzman’s sons, ⁠after their plane landed at a small airstrip in New ⁠Mexico. Guzman Lopez has since pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges.A photo of former Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of notorious cartel leader ‘El Chapo’ Guzman, being detained by federal agents is displayed in Santa Teresa, Mexico" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="2257" data-entity-type="location">New Mexico, the US, July 9, 2026 [File: Paul Ratje/Reuters]A Justice Department statement said Judge Cogan sentenced Zambada to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his role as a principal leader of a “continuing criminal enterprise” and for racketeering violations.“Ismael Zambada Garcia spent nearly four decades poisoning American communities to make billions of dollars in profit and ordering the murders of anyone who stood in his way. Today, that chapter closes for good,” US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella, Jr was quoted as saying.