'El Mayo' rejects being tried for drug-trafficking in New York, seeks to remain in Texas

Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel arrested last month, has rejected a motion by the U.S. Department of Justice seeking he be taken from Texas to new York, where he would be tried in the same courtroom as his former associate, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.

The DOJ asked judge Kathleen Cardone to authorize the move, but she gave Zambada the opportunity to weigh in on the issue, saying that prosecutors did not "make any attempt to articulate why Mr. Zambada García should be removed from the Western District Court of Texas, where the process is already ongoing, to be transferred to the Eastern District of New York."

Cardone also argued that there are no precedents justifying why the charges "El Mayo" faces in New York should supersede those from Texas, where there is already a preliminary schedule for the legal proceedings.

Given Zambada's opposition to be transferred, La Opinión detailed it's likely the judge will either set a hearing to settle the matter or solve it herself.

Zambada's indictment in the Eastern District of New York, updated earlier this year, includes 17 charges including fentanyl trafficking—a pressing concern in the United States, which has seen a devastating rise in overdose deaths due to the drug. He has already pleaded not guilty to to racketeering conspiracy, drug conspiracy and other charges in Texas.

Should he be finally transferred to New York, "El Mayo's" trial will likely follow a path similar to that of El Chapo Guzmán, who spent 27 months in custody in New York before his trial began in November 2018.

After a three-month trial, El Chapo was found guilty on all counts and was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 30 years, currently serving his sentence at the Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. Zambada, now 76 years old, faces the prospect of spending his remaining years in a similar high-security facility.

Zambada's capture created a ripple effect across Mexico's political landscape, with several governors and prominent politicians rallying to defend several political figures he implicated. The controversy underscores the complex and often murky relationship between the Mexican government and the powerful drug cartels, a relationship that has long been a source of speculation and concern both within and outside of Mexico.

Caught unaware of the plans to capture Zambada, the Mexican government has hinted at an invasion by U.S. drug agents into Mexico during the negotiations that led to his arrest, while fighting to keep the peace in Sinaloa and avoid a turf war among the four factions that are part of the Sinaloa Cartel.