A Mexican drug cartel leader who is currently being held in a Texas jail does not object to being transferred to New York to face charges there, according to court records submitted on Thursday. Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, 76, co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, was arrested at an airport near El Paso on July 25 along with Joaquín Guzmán López, a son of notorious drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. They are charged in the U.S. with various drug crimes and remain jailed.
Federal prosecutors in Texas requested last month that Zambada be moved to New York’s Brooklyn jurisdiction, where El Chapo was convicted in 2019 of drug and conspiracy charges and sentenced to life in prison. However, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone in El Paso denied the request on Wednesday. Prosecutors filed a new motion on Thursday stating that Zambada and his attorneys agreed to the transfer.
The transfer is subject to approval from Cardone, who canceled a status conference hearing scheduled for Monday in El Paso on Thursday afternoon.
Zambada faces charges in multiple jurisdictions, but if prosecutors get their wish, the case against him in Texas would proceed after the one in New York. In New York, Zambada is charged with running a continuing criminal enterprise, murder conspiracy, drug offenses, and other crimes.
This development comes as a surprise twist in the saga of Zambada and Guzmán, who are currently facing charges in both Mexico and the U.S. Last month, Mexican prosecutors announced that they were charging Guzmán for allegedly kidnapping Zambada, with the younger Guzmán intending to turn himself in to U.S. authorities but possibly bringing Zambada along as leverage for a plea deal.
Source: CBS News
