Sinaloa cartel cofounder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was sentenced on Monday to a mandatory life sentence in federal prison after admitting he spent more than five decades helping build one of the world’s largest drug trafficking organizations in Mexico.U.S. District Judge Brian M. Cogan imposed the sentence in Brooklyn, New York, after Zambada pleaded guilty last year to operating a criminal enterprise and racketeering conspiracy. The mandatory life sentence was triggered by the quantity of narcotics involved, including at least 1.5 million kilograms of cocaine.As part of his plea agreement, the 76-year-old cartel leader also agreed to forfeit up to $15 billion, one of the largest criminal forfeiture judgments in U.S. history. Prosecutors said the figure reflects decades of proceeds generated by the Sinaloa cartel.
Federal prosecutors described Zambada as the organization’s chief strategist, saying he oversaw a sprawling criminal enterprise that trafficked cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the United States while relying on corruption, kidnappings, torture, and murder to protect its operations.Multiple officials across the Justice Department, from FBI field agents, members of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and U.S. attorneys from Texas and Florida, held a press conference in Brooklyn to announce the historic achievement.Jason A. Reding Quiñones, U.S. attorney for the southern district of Florida, speaks flanked by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, left, and Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., after federal prosecutors announced charges against former Cuban President Raul Castro in the 1996 downing of civilian planes operated by Miami-based exiles, Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
