76岁的墨西哥锡那罗亚贩毒集团创始人之一、绰号“El Mayo”的伊斯梅尔·扎瓦达·加西亚（Ismael Zambada García），于2025年8月26日在美国纽约布鲁克林联邦法院被判处终身监禁 [2]。此外，他还被责令缴纳150亿美元的罚款 [2]。
扎瓦达此前通过认罪协议承认了罪行，以换取免除死刑判决 [1][2]。根据协议，他承认作为锡那罗亚贩毒集团的领导人，参与了大量可卡因等毒品的运输活动 [1]。他在2024年通过一次诱捕行动被捕，并随后达成认罪协议 [2]。
在宣判现场，扎瓦达表示“暴力必须结束” [2]。尽管这位长期逍遥法外的主要毒枭已入狱，分析人士指出，该贩毒集团内部的冲突以及向美国的毒品走私活动短期内可能不会发生根本性改变 [2]。这是继2019年乔奎恩·古兹曼被判刑后，又一墨西哥主要毒枭在美国联邦法院受审并获重刑 [1]。
Ismael Zambada García, the 76-year-old leader of the Sinaloa Cartel known as “El Mayo,” has been sentenced to life in prison by a federal court in Brooklyn, New York [1][2]. The sentencing took place on August 26, 2025, marking another significant legal blow to Mexican drug trafficking organizations following the conviction of Joaquín Guzmán in 2019 [1].
Zambada was also ordered to pay a fine of $15 billion as part of the judgment [2]. During the proceedings, he stated that “the violence must end” [2]. This sentence follows a plea agreement reached last year, under which Zambada admitted to leading the Sinaloa Cartel and transporting large quantities of cocaine and other substances in exchange for avoiding the death penalty after his capture in an undercover operation in 2024 [1][2].
Despite Zambada’s imprisonment, analysts suggest that internal conflicts within the cartel and its drug smuggling operations into the United States are unlikely to undergo fundamental changes in the short term [2].