He is one of the most high-profile Mexican drug traffickers to be sentenced in the US since ‘El Chapo’ was sentenced to life in prison in 2019
1-MIN READ1-MIN ListenReutersPublished: 11:40pm, 20 Jul 2026Mexican drug kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was sentenced on Monday to life in prison in the US, after a plea deal last year in which he admitted to shipping millions of kilograms of cocaine over decades as leader of the violent Sinaloa Cartel.
US District Judge Brian Cogan handed down the sentence at a hearing in Brooklyn federal court. 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.
Zambada, 76, agreed to plead guilty in August 2025 to charges including racketeering conspiracy and continuing criminal enterprise after the Justice Department said it would not seek the death penalty. The charges carried a mandatory term of life imprisonment.
Zambada was arrested in July 2024 alongside Joaquin Guzman Lopez, one of Guzman’s sons, after their plane landed at a small airstrip in New Mexico. Guzman Lopez has since pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges.
Frank Perez, a lawyer for Zambada, said in a July 6 court filing that his client was fully aware he would receive a life sentence when he decided to accept responsibility for his crimes. Perez asked Cogan to recommend to the Bureau of Prisons that the septuagenarian Zambada be placed in a facility where he would receive adequate medical care.
