Sinaloa cartel co-founder El Mayo faces life sentence in US

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a co-founder of Mexico's notorious Sinaloa cartel, is set to be sentenced in New York, with a life sentence widely expected. Zambada, 76, was apprehended in July 2024 at a U.S. airport, alleging he was deceived by an associate into boarding a flight that delivered him into the hands of American authorities.

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

Born in the Sinaloa state in 1950, Zambada rose from humble beginnings as a farmworker to become one of the globe's most powerful and affluent criminal figures. He spent decades operating in the shadows, evading numerous assassination attempts and law enforcement efforts. His criminal career began with the Guadalajara and Juarez cartels before he partnered with Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to establish the Sinaloa cartel in the late 20th century.

Prosecutors describe Zambada as both cunning and brutally violent, alleging he ordered the killings of relatives and fellow cartel members, as well as police and military personnel. He was crucial in bribing officials, establishing extensive distribution networks across the United States, and managing the billions of dollars laundered back to Mexico, solidifying the Sinaloa cartel's position as the world's largest drug trafficking organization.

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the Mexican army had come close to capturing him four times.

In a rare 2010 interview with Mexican magazine Proceso, Zambada revealed that the Mexican army had nearly captured him four times. Known as the “man in the hat,” he expressed more fear of jail than death, asserting that his arrest or demise would not disrupt Mexico's drug trade. His guilty plea to drug trafficking and organized crime charges followed nearly a year after his detention in the United States.

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he feared jail more than death, and his arrest or murder would not change Mexico’s drug trafficking landscape.