(Houston) The co-founder of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel agreed Thursday to be transferred to New York from Texas, where he has been held since his dramatic arrest in late July, to appear in the first of his drug trafficking trials in the United States.
According to official court documents, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada said he “does not oppose” the request of the U.S. Department of Justice, which notified Texas authorities on Thursday that federal prosecutors in New York had begun “transfer proceedings” for the alleged Mexican drug trafficker.
In New York, “El Mayo” is accused, among other things, of criminal conspiracy for the manufacture and international distribution of drugs such as cocaine and fentanyl.
He will then face other charges of drug trafficking, money laundering and murder in Texas and Illinois (northern United States).
Ismael Zambada, 76, has already appeared twice in court in the border city of El Paso, Texas, following his arrest on July 25 at a nearby airport. He had arrived from Mexico on a private plane with Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, with whom “El Mayo” co-founded the Sinaloa drug cartel.
The septuagenarian said he was set up by Joaquin Guzman Lopez, ambushed, kidnapped and taken by force onto the plane. He said he had not negotiated his surrender with the US government and, during the hearings in Texas, pleaded not guilty.