EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Jailed Sinaloa cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada will be moved out of El Paso shortly to face trial on federal charges in New York, The New York Times is reporting.
Zambada and a second cartel leader, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, were taken into U.S. federal custody July 25 in a New Mexico airport just across the state line from El Paso. Guzman Lopez and accomplices abducted and tied up Zambada and flew him to the United States against his will, Zambada attorney Frank Perez said earlier.
Federal officials flew Guzman Lopez to Chicago a day after his arrest, and Zambada remained in El Paso to face a slew of charges including conspiracy and drug trafficking. He has waived some hearings in El Paso but also appeared in person in U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone’s courtroom.
Cardone set Zambada’s next court hearing for Sept. 9 in El Paso.
But El Mayo has pending charges in Brooklyn, Illinois, California and Washington, D.C. The New York Times reported late Tuesday that the Department of Justice wants to try Zambada in the same venue where his old partner Joaquin Guzman Loera, aka “El Chapo,” was tried and convicted.
In an email to Border Report, Zambada attorney Frank Perez confirmed the impending change of venue. “My understanding is that the case will be transferred to the Eastern District of New York,” Perez wrote.
He did not have a date for the transfer.
The Times also reported some federal officials are concerned about the potential security threats of having Zambada jailed in El Paso, which is only separated from Mexico and its powerful cartels by the breadth of the Rio Grande.
Border Report reached out to Department of Justice officials. The DOJ declined to comment.