Sinaloa Cartel boss 'El Mayo' sentenced to life, ordered to pay $15B in drug trafficking profits

Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada Garcia has been sentenced to life in a U.S. prison and ordered to forfeit $15 billion in drug trafficking profits. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the sentencing on Monday, with U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan deeming it a just punishment for the vast amount of drugs and documented murders attributable to Zambada Garcia. He pleaded guilty in August 2025 to charges including racketeering conspiracy and continuing criminal enterprise, avoiding the death penalty. Zambada Garcia was arrested in July 2024 alongside Joaquin Guzman Lopez, who has since pleaded guilty to charges including kidnapping. The sentencing highlights bilateral cooperation between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement.

Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, has been sentenced to life in a US prison. The 76-year-old was also ordered to pay $15 billion in restitution. Zambada was lured to the US in a sting operation orchestrated by Joaquin Guzmán Lopez, the son of "El Chapo" Guzmán, and arrested in Texas in 2024. He had previously reached a plea deal, admitting to drug smuggling and conspiracy charges to avoid the death penalty. The $15 billion represents profits from his role as a principal leader in the criminal enterprise that has trafficked vast amounts of drugs into the US since the late 1980s.

Mexican drug lord Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada has been sentenced to life in prison without parole in a US federal court in Brooklyn, New York. A US judge handed down the sentence on Monday following Zambada's guilty plea last year to charges including racketeering conspiracy and continuing criminal enterprise. Zambada, 76, admitted to shipping millions of kilograms of cocaine over decades as a leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. He was arrested in July 2024. The sentence reflects his role as a principal leader of a violent criminal enterprise responsible for significant drug trafficking and murders.

Mexican drug kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada has been sentenced to life in prison in the US. The sentence was handed down in Brooklyn federal court following a plea deal last year where Zambada admitted to decades of cocaine trafficking as leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. The 76-year-old agreed to plead guilty to racketeering conspiracy and continuing criminal enterprise charges, avoiding the death penalty. Zambada was arrested in July 2024 in New Mexico alongside Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of "El Chapo" Guzman. His lawyer indicated Zambada understood he would receive a life sentence and requested he be placed in a facility with adequate medical care.