Notorious drug cartel leader Ismael Zambada sentenced to life in US prison

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 US judge ruled has ruled, two years after Zambada was lured to the US in an elaborate sting operation.

In the plea deal, Zambada officially accepted his role in creating the vast criminal network which has sent huge amounts of cocaine and other drugs into the US since he co-founded the Sinaloa Cartel at the end of the 1980s.

Violence and bloodletting also shook the cartel after El Chapo was arrested and extradited to the US in 2016, as factions wrestled for control of territory while fighting off opposing drug gangs who sensed weakness.