New York, New York - Mexican organized crime legend Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada Garcia, who founded the Sinaloa cartel, is set to be sentenced in New York on Monday in a ruling expected to send him to prison for life.
After a journey from poor farm worker to one of the world's most powerful and wealthy criminal bosses, Zambada was arrested at a US airport in July 2024.
He claims he was tricked by a cartel ally into boarding a plane that delivered him into the hands of US authorities.
Known for keeping a low profile and avoiding being photographed, El Mayo, now 76 years old, spent decades rising through the cartel ranks, evading both capture and multiple assassination attempts.
His early years coincided with the emergence of Sinaloa as a marijuana and opium growing region – and eventually a transit point for Colombian cocaine going to the US.
Zambada Garcia began his criminal career with the Guadalajara and Juarez cartels. He eventually struck out, working alongside another Sinaloan, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, to establish the Sinaloa cartel in the 1980s and 1990s.
The crime network got to work setting up distribution networks across the US, and moving billions of dollars back to Mexico. It quickly became the world's largest cartel.
US Court documents paint him as not just smart, but violently ruthless. He allegedly ordered the killing of his own nephew, who was then found dead in a car by the side of the road.
Almost a year after being detained in the US, he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and organized crime charges. Under the plea deal with US authorities, Zambada Garcia faces a mandatory minimum term of life imprisonment without parole.
He also agreed to the forfeiture of $15 billion of ill-gotten-gains as part of the plea deal, the Department of Justice said.