Mexican drug cartel leader Zambada will be arraigned in New York

On September 13, 2024, news from New York. Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the long-time leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico, is scheduled to be arraigned in New York on Friday. Zambada faces a 17-count indictment charging him with drug trafficking and murder.

Zambada has been hunted by US law enforcement for more than twenty years and has been in US custody since July 25. At that time, he and another fugitive drug cartel leader, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, landed on an airport outside El Paso on a private plane. Zambada claimed that he was forcibly kidnapped in Mexico and brought to the United States. Guzman Lopez is the son of imprisoned Sinaloa co-founder Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

The US attorney in Brooklyn has asked the judge to keep Zambada in permanent custody while he awaits trial. If convicted on all counts, the 76-year-old Zambada faces at least life imprisonment and possibly even the death penalty. In a letter to the judge, the prosecutor praised Zambada as "one of the most notorious and dangerous drug traffickers in the world," noting that he has military-grade weapons and a private security force and is also suspected of ordering the murder of his own nephew.

Zambada pleaded not guilty to the charges during his earlier court appearance in Texas. His unexpected arrest has triggered battles between rival factions within the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico, resulting in several deaths. Schools and businesses in Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa state, were closed during the fighting. The fighting is believed to be between factions loyal to Zambada and those led by other sons of "El Chapo" Guzman. Guzman was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States in 2019 on drug and conspiracy charges. It is still unclear why Guzman Lopez surrendered to US authorities and brought Zambada with him. He is currently awaiting trial on another drug trafficking indictment in Chicago and has pleaded not guilty to charges including drug trafficking.