Which actor played Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada in Narcos: Mexico?

Alberto Guerra played Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada in Narcos: Mexico.

Guerra portrayed the character during the series’ third and final season. In the show, El Mayo is presented as an independent trafficker whose fishing business serves as a front and becomes strategically valuable amid competition between Mexico’s major cartels.

The character is based on Ismael Mario Zambada García, a real Mexican drug trafficker and longtime leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. Unlike some figures dramatized in earlier seasons, El Mayo becomes especially prominent in the series’ later depiction of the cartel landscape after Félix Gallardo’s era.

Alberto Guerra is a Cuban actor, and his casting is easy to confuse with the many other performers in the ensemble. Flavio Medina played Gulf Cartel leader Juan García Ábrego, Manuel Masalva played Ramón Arellano Félix, and Alfonso Dosal played Benjamín Arellano Félix. Those actors portray different figures from Mexico’s criminal underworld, while Guerra is the performer associated with El Mayo.