Mexican drug lord ‘El Mayo’ sentenced to life in prison in New York

Mexican drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was sentenced Monday to life in prison by a federal court in New York for co-founding and leading the powerful Sinaloa cartel.

The 76-year-old “El Mayo” is the former top associate of the organisation’s founder, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who is serving a life sentence in a maximum-security prison in Colorado.

El Mayo was arrested at a US airport in July 2024 and pleaded guilty in August 2025 to several charges related to his leadership of the criminal organisation.

He claims he was tricked by a cartel ally into boarding a plane that delivered him into the hands of US authorities.

In exchange for his guilty plea, US authorities waived their right to seek the death penalty.

A Justice Department statement said US District Judge Brian Cogan sentenced him to life in prison in the federal court in Brooklyn 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.

Known for keeping a low profile and avoiding being photographed, Zambada spent decades rising through the cartel ranks, evading both capture and multiple assassination attempts.

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