Sinaloa cartel cofounder sentenced to life in prison, agrees to $15 billion forfeiture

Sinaloa cartel cofounder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was sentenced on Monday to a mandatory life sentence in federal prison after admitting he spent more than five decades helping build one of the world’s largest drug trafficking organizations in Mexico.

U.S. District Judge Brian M. Cogan imposed the sentence in Brooklyn, New York, after Zambada pleaded guilty last year to operating a criminal enterprise and racketeering conspiracy. The mandatory life sentence was triggered by the quantity of narcotics involved, including at least 1.5 million kilograms of cocaine.In this courtroom sketch, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, center, is seated beside his defense attorney Frank Perez, left, in federal court in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Sept. 13, 2024. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

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As part of his plea agreement, the 76-year-old cartel leader also agreed to forfeit up to $15 billion, one of the largest criminal forfeiture judgments in U.S. history. Prosecutors said the figure reflects decades of proceeds generated by the Sinaloa cartel.

Federal prosecutors described Zambada as the organization’s chief strategist, saying he oversaw a sprawling criminal enterprise that trafficked cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the United States while relying on corruption, kidnappings, torture, and murder to protect its operations.

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Zambada was taken into U.S. custody in 2024 after authorities say he was lured on to an airplane in Mexico by Joaquín Guzman Lopez, one of El Chapo’s sons, and flown to Texas. He pleaded guilty in July last year after prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty. His attorneys said he was not cooperating with U.S. authorities and requested that he serve his sentence at a federal medical facility because of age-related health conditions, a request prosecutors did not oppose.

Outside the courthouse, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr. called Zambada “the world’s single biggest drug trafficker this century,” saying he and Guzman built “the largest drug trafficking organization that the world has ever seen.”

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DEA Administrator Terry Cole said Zambada transformed the cartel into one of the world’s most violent criminal organizations, overseeing industrial-scale drug trafficking while corrupting public officials and using violence to maintain power.

He said the life sentence demonstrates that federal law enforcement “will not relent” in pursuing cartel leaders regardless of their influence or resources.

(*) Full article: https://www.conservativenewsdaily.net/breaking-news/sinaloa-cartel-cofounder-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-agrees-to-15-billion-forfeiture/