Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the Mexican drug lord and escape artist known as "El Chapo" who was found guilty of drug smuggling and money laundering, was sentenced by a federal court in New York on Wednesday to life in prison plus 30 years.

Guzman, the 62-year-old former co-leader of Mexico’s mighty Sinaloa drug cartel, was convicted in February in US federal court on a number of charges, which included smuggling hundreds of tons of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana into the United States.

The charges, which also include money laundering and weapons-related offences, carried a mandatory life sentence.