US Prosecutors Aim to Try Mexican Drug Lord ‘El Mayo’ Zambada in New York, Then in Texas
NEW YORK—A Mexican drug lord who was arrested in the U.S. could be headed to trial in New York City, after prosecutors filed a request Thursday to move him from Texas.
Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, known as a top leader and co-founder of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, faces charges in multiple U.S. locales. He and a son of notorious Sinaloa kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán were arrested last month after being flown into New Mexico. Zambada has said he was kidnapped in his home country en route to what he thought was a meeting with a Mexican official.
Zambada, 76, has so far appeared in U.S. federal court in El Paso, Texas, which is in one of the jurisdictions where he has been indicted. He has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, drug conspiracy, and other charges.
