A federal judge in Brooklyn sentenced Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García, the co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, to life imprisonment without parole on Monday, alongside a $15 billion asset forfeiture order. The sentence, handed down by District Judge Brian Cogan, formalises a plea agreement reached in August 2025 in which Zambada admitted to running a continuing criminal enterprise and racketeering conspiracy. US prosecutors described the punishment as the definitive end of a near four-decade career that flooded American communities with cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl, while ordering systematic assassinations and corrupting Mexican officials.

Viewed from Washington, the sentencing represents a capstone achievement for the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Justice Department. DEA Administrator Terrance Cole declared the ruling “a warning to every cartel leader, global criminal enterprise and foreign terrorist,” adding that the agency would pursue corrupt government officials with equal vigour. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn stressed that Zambada’s organisation pioneered cross-border tunnels and train shipments, moving at least 1.5 million kilograms of cocaine into the United States. They also noted that the defendant had not cooperated with investigators, leaving intact the cartel’s remaining command structures and the network of political protection he had cultivated.

Mexico City has reacted with diplomatic unease, focusing not on the sentence but on the circumstances of Zambada’s arrival on US soil. President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration maintains that the capo was kidnapped on Mexican territory in July 2024 by Joaquín Guzmán López, a son of the imprisoned Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, and flown against his will to New Mexico. The Mexican attorney general’s office is investigating whether US agencies violated national sovereignty, a concern sharpened by the FBI’s recent public display of the aircraft used in the operation. US officials have repeatedly denied orchestrating the abduction, though sources familiar with the matter told the Los Angeles Times that there had been pressure on Guzmán López to surrender. The dispute has added friction to an already tense bilateral security relationship.

The sentencing has not stabilised the power vacuum left by Zambada’s removal. Since September 2024, a factional war between his loyalists, known as “Los Mayos,” and the “Chapitos” faction led by Guzmán’s sons has killed over 1,200 people in Sinaloa, according to state prosecutors, with civil society groups placing the toll far higher. In court, Zambada read a statement in Spanish accepting responsibility and calling for an end to the violence, saying “nobody wins in this type of war.” His defence requested placement in a prison hospital, citing age-related health problems, but prosecutors argued that his continued influence over loyalists, including a son who now leads the Mayo faction, poses a security risk that may require a high-security facility. The US Bureau of Prisons will make the final designation, while Mexico’s sovereignty investigation and the internal cartel conflict remain open dossiers.