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 U.S. judge has ruled, two years after Zambada was lured to the United States in an elaborate sting operation.

The 76-year-old, who founded the violent Sinaloa Cartel with Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, was also ordered to pay $15bn (£11bn).

In 2024, El Chapo’s son made Zambada believe that they were traveling to northern Mexico to inspect clandestine airstrips, when his plane landed in Texas and he was arrested.

Last year, Zambada reached a deal and admitted charges of drug smuggling and conspiracy in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan sentenced Zambada during a hearing in federal court in Brooklyn. His guilty plea carried a mandatory sentence of life in prison, Reuters reported.

The $15 billion he was ordered to pay represents drug trafficking profits derived from his role as the top leader of a criminal enterprise, according to the Department of Justice.

El Chapo’s son, Joaquín Guzmán López, was also arrested in July 2024 and pleaded guilty to federal drug charges. He has not yet been sentenced.

In the plea deal, Zambada officially accepted his role in creating the vast criminal network that has shipped huge quantities of cocaine and other drugs to the United States since he co-founded the Sinaloa Cartel in the late 1980s.

“Ismael Zambada García spent nearly four decades poisoning American communities for billions of dollars in profits and ordering the murder of anyone who stood in his way,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr for the Eastern District of New York said in a statement.

“Today that chapter closes forever.”

Prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum that Zambada “was one of the most prolific and powerful drug traffickers in the world,” according to CBS News, the BBC’s American partner.

The Sinaloa Cartel has been at war with itself since Zambada was arrested and has caused chaos throughout the Mexican state of Sinaloa. Hundreds of people have been reported missing during fighting between its two rival factions.

Violence and bloodshed also rocked the cartel after El Chapo was arrested and extradited to the United States in 2016, as factions fought for control of territory while fighting opposing drug gangs who sensed weakness. He is also serving a life sentence.

One of the questions that has arisen since Zambada agreed to plead guilty has been where he will serve his sentence.

He has requested to be sent to a prison hospital, claiming that he will need medical attention for age-related health problems.

Federal prosecutors, however, are seeking a higher level of incarceration, maintaining that Zambada still poses a security threat while behind bars and could continue to run illegal drug operations.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons will make the final decision on where you reside.

On his first day back in office, US President Donald Trump announced that he would increase pressure on Mexico and the cartels, including designating criminal enterprises as terrorist groups. The United States also accused the governor of Sinaloa of conspiring with drug traffickers.

The Mexican government has also taken more aggressive measures against the cartels and has sent thousands of troops to Sinaloa.