International News: Sinaloa cartel kingpin ‘El Mayo’ sentenced to life in prison

By Zoila Palma:  Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia has been sentenced to life in a U.S. prison and ordered to forfeit $15 billion in drug trafficking proceeds, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The 76-year-old Mexican drug trafficker was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan, who said the scale of the drug trafficking operation and documented murders justified the mandatory life sentence, Fox reports. Zambada pleaded guilty in August 2025 to multiple charges, including racketeering conspiracy and continuing criminal enterprise, after prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty. He was arrested in July 2024 after a plane carrying him and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of imprisoned cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, landed in the United States. Guzman Lopez has since pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and kidnapping charges but has not yet been sentenced. Federal prosecutor Joseph Nocella said Guzman Lopez admitted to kidnapping Zambada in an effort to gain leniency from U.S. authorities. Prosecutors said Guzman Lopez would receive no credit for the kidnapping, which they strongly condemned. During his sentencing, Zambada told the court that he accepted responsibility for the harm he had caused and urged younger generations to choose a different path. Zambada is one of the most prominent Mexican drug traffickers to be sentenced in the United States since “El Chapo” was given a life sentence in 2019. The post International News: Sinaloa cartel kingpin ‘El Mayo’ sentenced to life in prison appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.