Mexican drug cartel leader Ismael Zambada Sentenced to Life in US Prison
esmaspäev, 20. juuli 2026
One of the most notorious figures in Mexico's drug cartels, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, will spend the rest of his life in prison, a US judge has ruled. The 76-year-old, who co-founded the violent Sinaloa Cartel with Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán, was also ordered to pay $15 billion (£11 billion).
Zambada was arrested in July 2024 following an elaborate sting operation, where El Chapo's son led him to believe they were travelling to northern Mexico to inspect clandestine airstrips, but their plane instead landed in Texas. Last year, Zambada reached a plea deal, admitting to drug smuggling and conspiracy charges in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.
On Monday, US District Judge Brian Cogan sentenced Zambada during a hearing in Brooklyn federal court. His guilty plea carried a mandatory term of life in prison, Reuters reported. The $15 billion he was ordered to pay represents drug-trafficking profits from his role as the principal leader of a criminal enterprise, according to the justice department. US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. stated that Zambada spent nearly four decades poisoning American communities to make billions of dollars in profit and ordering the murders of anyone who stood in his way.
In the plea deal, Zambada officially accepted his role in creating the vast criminal network which has sent huge amounts of cocaine and other drugs into the US since he co-founded the Sinaloa Cartel at the end of the 1980s.
* Välisuudiste koostamisel võib olla kasutatud tehisintellekti abi.
