‘El Mayo’ refuses trial for drug trafficking in New York, wants to stay in Texas

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

The Justice Department has asked Judge Kathleen Cardone to approve the measure, but she has given Zambada the opportunity to weigh in on the issue. She said prosecutors do not… “make no attempt to explain why Mr. Zambada García should be removed from the Western District of Texas, where the trial is already underway, and transferred to the Eastern District of New York.”

Cardone also argued that There are no precedents that justify why the charges against “El Mayo” in New York should take precedence over those in Texaswhere a preliminary schedule for the trial already exists.

Since Zambada is resisting his transfer, La Opinión indicated that it is likely that the judge will schedule a hearing to settle the case or resolve it himself.

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

If he is eventually transferred to New York, the trial against “El Mayo” will likely follow a similar path to that of El Chapo Guzmán, who spent 27 months in pretrial detention in New York before his trial began in November 2018.

After a three-month trial, El Chapo was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years. He is currently serving his sentence at the Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. Zambada, now 76, must spend the rest of his life in a similar maximum-security prison.

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

The Mexican government, unaware of the plans to capture Zambada, has hinted at an invasion of Mexico by U.S. drug dealers during the negotiations that led to his arrest. Meanwhile, the government is trying to keep the peace in Sinaloa and prevent a turf war between the four factions of the Sinaloa cartel.