Ismael Zambada was sentenced to life in prison in the US after pleading guilty to decades of drug trafficking.
Members of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) attend a press conference following the sentencing hearing for Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada in Brooklyn, New York, US, Jul 20, 2026. (Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)
21 Jul 2026 02:41AM
NEW YORK: Mexican drug kingpin Ismael El Mayo Zambada was sentenced on Monday (Jul 20) to life in prison in the US, 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.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.In handing down the sentence at a hearing in Brooklyn federal court, US District Judge Brian Cogan said that even though he had no choice but to impose a life sentence, he believed it was the right punishment."The almost unimaginable amount of drugs attributable to him and the number of murders that we can document is enough to justify Congress's decision to make this a mandatory life sentence," the judge said.
