A powerful Mexican drug cartel leader who has been held in Texas since his arrest in the U.S. over the summer does not oppose being transferred to New York to face charges there, according to a court filing Thursday.
Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, 76, co-founder of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, was arrested along with Joaquín Guzmán López, a son of notorious drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán,” after landing at an airport near El Paso on July 25. They are charged in the U.S. with various drug crimes and remain jailed.
Federal prosecutors in Texas asked the court last month to move Zambada to the New York jurisdiction that includes Brooklyn, where the elder Guzmán was convicted in 2019 of drug and conspiracy charges and sentenced to life in prison.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone in El Paso had issued an order Wednesday denying the request for a move to New York. But prosecutors filed a motion Thursday saying that Zambada and his attorneys agreed to the move, and a subsequent court filing confirmed that.