By The Diary
Aug 15, 2024, 7:47 PM EDT
Judge Kathleen Cardone on Thursday approved the federal government’s request to expedite the transfer to New York of the co-founder of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, so that he can be tried in that city, where Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was sentenced to life in prison in 2019.
“El Mayo” Zambada, 76, who is currently detained in the border city of El Paso, where he has already had two initial hearings before the court, had been a fugitive for almost 50 years in Mexico, until his arrest on July 25 in El Paso, Texas, the capo was one of the most wanted criminals in the United States with a reward of $15 million dollars.
There is already a pending charge against him in the Eastern District of New York and after the US Attorney’s Office formally presented the request for his transfer on Thursday, the judge accepted it.
He pleaded not guilty to charges in Texas
In a court filing, federal prosecutors in El Paso said Zambada would be arraigned on the charges he faces in New York before returning to face separate charges in Texas. “El Mayo” pleaded not guilty to the charges at the hearing in Texas.
The New York indictment is one of at least four that “El Mayo” faces in the U.S., but it was updated in February of this year and is the only one that mentions trafficking of fentanyl, the powerful synthetic opioid that has generated a serious crisis of overdose deaths in the United States and has become the center of the country’s anti-drug policy.
He faces multiple charges
In the Eastern District of New York, his partner Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was sentenced to life in prison in 2019. His son, Joaquín Guzmán López, was arrested alongside Zambada last month.
The U.S. Department of Justice then stressed that both “face multiple charges in the United States for leading the Cartel’s criminal operations, including its lethal fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks.”
Judge Cardone agreed Thursday to set an initial appearance for “El Mayo” Zambada, “without further delay.”
With information from EFE
Continue reading:
- “El Mayo” Zambada pleads “not guilty” to drug trafficking in Texas
- Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada will remain in custody without bail in the U.S.
- Joaquín Guzmán López reportedly told “El Mayo” Zambada that they would go see some land before handing it over to the US.