How Mexico’s ‘El Mayo’ went from feared cartel boss to life imprisonment in the US

By Sol Amaya, Mauricio Torres, Maria Santana, CNN

(CNN) — Mexican drug kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was sentenced to life in prison in the United States on Monday, ending one of the most significant cartel prosecutions since the conviction of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

The co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel avoided a possible death penalty after pleading guilty last year to leading a continuing criminal enterprise and admitting to trafficking millions of kilograms of cocaine over decades.

As part of his plea deal, the court also ordered him to forfeit $15 billion in drug trafficking profits, the US Justice Department said.

“El Mayo’s conviction is historic, and it reflects the Justice Department’s commitment to the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations that threaten American lives,” said US Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva.

Before learning his fate, Zambada addressed the court, accepting responsibility for his crimes. He apologized to the countless people and families harmed by his actions and said he wasn’t pleading guilty to hide what he had done, but because he knew it was wrong.

He urged young people not to follow his path, saying, “Choose a different path. There is no future in violence. It only leads to prison and death.” He added, “Violence must end in Mexico and elsewhere. Too many lives are being lost. No one wins.”

How Zambada rose to power

Born in Sinaloa, Zambada worked as a farmer in his youth. In the 1980s, he began collaborating with the Guadalajara cartel and later with the Juárez cartel, which was then led by Armando Carrillo Fuentes, a famous drug trafficker known as “El Señor de los Cielos” (“The Lord of the Skies”) because he used a large fleet of small planes to traffic drugs.

After Carrillo Fuentes’s death, El Mayo created his own criminal organization, the Sinaloa cartel, which he led for years alongside El Chapo. Also known as the Pacific cartel, the Sinaloa cartel expanded the production and shipment of drugs to the United States, including heroin, marijuana, methamphetamines, and now fentanyl, as well as managing cocaine trafficking from the south of the continent.

The US Treasury Department has linked him to a money laundering scheme involving companies and alleged government contracts in Mexico, another factor that has contributed to the cartel being considered one of the largest criminal organizations in the world.

As El Mayo expanded his power – a fact that put him in the crosshairs of the United States, which offered a $15 million reward for his capture – many close relatives were arrested and extradited to US territory.

One of them was his son Vicente “El Vicentillo” Zambada Niebla, who in 2009 was arrested in Mexico, extradited and prosecuted in Illinois. He pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in 2013 and in 2019 was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Many of those prosecuted cooperated with US authorities in exchange for reduced sentences, which aided in the trial against El Chapo, who was also sentenced to life in prison in 2019.

After a fierce internal struggle, which included an attempt on his life, El Mayo remained leader of the Sinaloa cartel, along with El Chapo Guzmán’s sons, known as “Los Chapitos.”

According to the think tank InSight Crime, the alliance between these factions was one of the main reasons the Sinaloa cartel consolidated itself as one of the most powerful in the region. However, this union deteriorated into a constant internal battle that led in part to El Mayo’s arrest in the United States.

Questions about El Mayo’s capture and health problems

According to US authorities, El Mayo and Joaquín Guzmán López, one of El Chapo’s sons, were arrested in El Paso, Texas, on July 25, 2024, after traveling there on a private plane from Mexico. El Mayo later said he had been lured onto that flight under false pretenses.

The way he was captured is a point of friction between the governments of Mexico and the United States.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government is demanding that the US clarify the conditions under which the arrest occurred, alleging a possible violation of national sovereignty. The Mexican Attorney General’s Office is investigating whether there were irregularities in this transfer and says it has 32 open investigations against El Mayo, as well as arrest warrants.

Zambada has already indicated that he will accept the sentence imposed by the US justice system, although he has requested not to be sent to a maximum-security prison and that his health problems be taken into consideration.

The judge on Monday revealed sealed medical records, which show Zambada is experiencing declining cognitive abilities and other potentially progressive medical conditions. While prosecutors argued he can receive medical care within the federal prison system, the judge said the Bureau of Prisons should carefully consider his health when deciding where he will serve his sentence.

What will happen now with the Sinaloa cartel?

As several experts have told CNN, when a drug trafficking leader falls, there are always many others available to succeed him, so the criminal organization – at least for now – remains active.

InSight Crime maintains that it is possible another of Mayo’s sons, Ismael “el Mayito Flaco” Zambada Sicairos, who has not been arrested, could become his heir.

Meanwhile, the struggle for leadership has wreaked havoc in Sinaloa, with ongoing violent clashes between the two main rival factions, Los Chapitos and Los Mayos.

Between September 2024 and May of this year, Sinaloa recorded 2,829 intentional homicides, according to official statistics. Estimates from organizations specializing in organized crime suggest that a high percentage of that total stems from the conflict between both groups, and that thousands more people are missing.

Two Chapitos, Iván Archivaldo and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, are still fugitives. The United States government is offering a multimillion-dollar reward for information leading to their capture.

A report from the organization International Crisis Group says that in addition to Los Chapitos and Los Mayos, there are two other blocs in the cartel, one led by El Chapo’s brother Aureliano “el Guano” Guzmán and another headed by Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, “el Chapo Isidro.”

“The criminal landscape in Sinaloa is highly fragmented,” David Mora, an analyst at International Crisis Group and author of the report, told CNN. He noted that these four factions form alliances with around 20 cells to control various illegal markets: drug trafficking, management of slot machines, smuggling of alcoholic beverages or cigarettes, and extortion of businesses.

In this context, Mora explained, it is unlikely that Mayo’s sentence will bring any change to the criminal dynamics observed in Sinaloa.

“Now, if he pleads guilty and is sentenced to life in prison, will it have an impact on the production and trafficking of fentanyl? Definitely not,” he said.

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Michael Rios contributed to this report.