Federal prosecutors in the United States have formally requested a life sentence for Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the 76-year-old former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, who has been in U.S. custody since July 2024. The motion, filed Monday before Judge Brian Cogan in the Eastern District of New York, paints Zambada as one of the most prolific and powerful drug traffickers in history.
“For decades, the defendant was one of the most prolific and powerful drug traffickers in the world, if not the most,” the filing states. “Together with his co-defendant, Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, Zambada founded the brutally violent Sinaloa Cartel in the late 1980s. The defendant oversaw the shipment of millions of kilograms of drugs” to the United States.
The prosecutors’ document is a comprehensive summary of the charges against Zambada—he has been indicted 16 times, according to the text—and a history of the Sinaloa Cartel, from Zambada’s solo beginnings in cocaine trafficking in the 1980s to his alliance with El Chapo in the following decade, and his criminal epilogue after his partner’s capture a decade ago.
“After Guzmán’s capture,” which occurred for the last time in January 2016, “the defendant became the sole leader of the cartel, a position he held until his arrest in July 2024. These operations resulted in billions of dollars in annual profits for the cartel,” the filing adds. “As the leader of the criminal group, Zambada continued to resort to violence and corruption,” it concludes.
The motion also details Zambada’s alleged use of hitmen who, following his orders, assaulted, tortured, and murdered to further the cartel’s objectives. Prosecutors emphasize that “under the defendant’s control and supervision, the cartel paid millions in bribes to all levels of the Mexican government, police, army, and politicians, to ensure the cartel could operate without interference.”
The defense, led by attorney Frank Perez, has already accepted that a life sentence is likely. In a letter last week, Perez requested that the court consider Zambada’s health conditions and the choice of prison where he will serve his sentence. Prosecutors agree but reject the prisons proposed by the defense, citing Zambada’s dangerousness.
The motion says little about Zambada’s arrest, which has been a source of controversy. On July 25, 2024, one of El Chapo’s sons, Joaquín Guzmán López, allegedly set a trap for Zambada. He summoned him to a meeting in Sinaloa, apparently with the aim of kidnapping him and taking him across the border to hand him over to U.S. authorities. The plan succeeded: Guzmán López and his men tied up Zambada and put him on a plane near Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa. From there, they flew to an airfield in New Mexico, where FBI agents arrested Zambada.
From the start, suspicion that the FBI and other agencies were involved in the plan has simmered in Mexico. In late June, suspicions grew after several news reports pointed to FBI participation. The U.S. prosecutors’ filing does not address this issue, focusing instead on Zambada’s history and his criminal organization.
Meanwhile, Mexico awaits the judicial future of the other protagonists of Sinaloa drug trafficking in recent decades: the brothers Ovidio and Joaquín Guzmán, with their father imprisoned for life in the U.S. Ovidio was arrested in 2023 in Mexico and extradited to the U.S. Joaquín arrived with Zambada in New Mexico in 2024. Both have pleaded guilty.
