Convicted Drug Cartel Boss ‘El Mayo’ Could Share Information on Mexico’s Corrupted Political Class

‘Violence should stop in Mexico,” said the tired old man. “Too many lives are lost. It destroys families. It thrusts youths into a life without future. Nobody will win this war.”

Then, having spoken, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García, one of the most fearsome cartel bosses in all of Mexican history, went silent to await his sentencing. The sentence was handed down on Monday: life in prison without the possibility of parole. As an end for a man who moved drugs and people across America’s southern border for decades, and who was directly and indirectly responsible for uncounted deaths and lives destroyed at the hands of his Sinaloa Cartel, the sentence was arguably somewhat less than he deserved. But the death penalty had been taken off the table some time ago, and Zambada García is reported to have been spared the worst possible federal lockup in ADX Florence, where his erstwhile Sinaloa partner Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán now permanently resides.

About the Author

Joshua S. Treviño

Joshua S. Treviño works in public policy in Austin, Texas, and in Washington, D.C.

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‘Violence should stop in Mexico,” said the tired old man. “Too many lives are lost. It destroys families. It thrusts youths into a life without future. Nobody will win this war.”

Then, having spoken, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García, one of the most fearsome cartel bosses in all of Mexican history, went silent to await his sentencing. The sentence was handed down on Monday: life in prison without the possibility of parole. As an end for a man who moved drugs and people across America’s southern border for decades, and who was directly and indirectly responsible for uncounted deaths and lives destroyed at the hands of his Sinaloa Cartel, the sentence was arguably somewhat less than he deserved. But the death penalty had been taken off the table some time ago, and Zambada García is reported to have been spared the worst possible federal lockup in ADX Florence, where his erstwhile Sinaloa partner Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán now permanently resides.