Prosecutors want to move Sinaloa Drug cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada The case was brought in federal court in Brooklyn as Mexico said it was seeking more information about the flight that led to the arrest of two suspected drug lords on U.S. soil.
Zambada, known as a top leader and co-founder of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, faces charges in multiple U.S. jurisdictions. Joaquin Guzman Lopezson of notorious Sinaloa drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, was arrested last month after being flown to New Mexico. Zambada said he was kidnapped in his home country while en route to what he thought was a meeting with a Mexican official.
Mexican authorities said Thursday they had requested information from the U.S. Justice Department. in flight Mexican authorities have sought the plane’s serial number, FAA records, customs and border clearance documents, and the advance passenger information document, among other items. Authorities said that information has not yet been received.
Zambada, 76, appeared in U.S. federal court in El Paso, Texas, one of the jurisdictions where he was indicted. He pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, drug trafficking conspiracy and other charges.
Federal prosecutors in Texas on Thursday asked a court to hold a hearing to take the procedural steps necessary to transfer him to the New York jurisdiction that includes Brooklyn, where the elder “El Chapo” Guzmán was convicted in 2019 of drug trafficking and conspiracy charges and sentenced to life in prison. El Chapo is serving a life sentence Very high security prison in Florence, Colorado, which houses many high-profile inmates.
If prosecutors prevail, the Texas case against Zambada would follow the New York case.
A message seeking comment was sent to Zambada’s lawyers.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn declined to comment on the case. Zambada is charged with running a criminal enterprise, conspiracy to commit murder, drug offenses and other crimes.
Meanwhile, Joaquín Guzmán López, the son of “El Chapo” arrested with Zambada, pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges in federal court in Chicago.
Provided to CBS
Zambada led the Sinaloa Cartel with Father Guzmán as it grew from a regional presence into a massive manufacturer and trafficker of illicit fentanyl pills and other drugs into the United States, authorities say.
Considered a good negotiator, Zambada was seen as the union’s strategist and dealmaker, supposedly more involved in its day-to-day operations than the more flamboyant Guzmán.
Remaining more discreet, Zambada had never been behind bars until his arrest in the United States last month.
He has often clashed with Guzmán’s sons, nicknamed the Chapitos, or Little Chapos. Fearing that Zambada’s arrest would spark a violent power struggle within the cartel, the Mexican government quickly dispatched 200 special forces troops to Sinaloa state, and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador publicly pleaded with the cartel factions not to fight among themselves.
Federal authorities said “El Mayo” and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, one of the 12 children of notorious drug kingpin El Chapo, were arrested near El Paso, Texas, on July 25 without incident after flying in from Mexico.
