‘El Mayo,’ leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, sentenced to life in prison
Ismael Zambada Garcia, also called El Mayo, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Monday by a U.S. federal judge. He is the co-founder and the former leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel. File Photo by Ulises Ruiz Basurto/EPA
July 20 (UPI) — Ismael Zambada Garcia, also called El Mayo, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Monday by a U.S. federal judge.
Zambada Garcia, 76, the co-founder and the former leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel, pleaded guilty last year to leading the extensive criminal network, in which he made billions of dollars through illegal drug trafficking and violent crime. He worked with Joaquín Guzmán Loera, also called El Chapo, who is also serving life in prison.
Zambada Garcia avoided arrest for decades before authorities captured him in 2024 in El Paso, Texas. His arrest created extensive violence in the Sinaloa state of Mexico as people rushed to fill the power vacuum, The Washington Post reported.
“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,” said Joseph Nocella, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. “Today, that chapter closes for good.”
Zambada Garcia read a statement in Spanish in his courtroom appearance. He expressed remorse and said his upbringing was in “an environment where violence and crime seemed normal,” The New York Times reported.
“To the next generation, I say: Choose a different path,” he said.
Judge Brian Cogan of the Federal District Court in Brooklyn also ordered Zambada Garcia to forfeit $15 billion, though it’s unlikely that will happen, The Times reported.
Zambada Garcia was arrested after an ally — the son of Joaquín Guzmán Loera — took him onto a plane to allegedly go look at real estate. Instead, they flew over the border to Texas, where federal authorities arrested him. Tensions between U.S. and Mexico authorities continue over the operation, and the Mexican attorney general office said this month that it is investigating if the U.S. government lied about its involvement.