Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada set to appear in New York courtroom

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García is scheduled to appear Friday morning at the Eastern District Court of New York (EDNY), the same courtroom where notorious Mexican drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and Mexico’s former secretary of public security, Genaro García Luna, were tried and convicted. In court documents, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said that the 76-year-old — who co-founded the Sinaloa Cartel with El Chapo — posed “a danger to the community” and “a risk of flight,” and asked for the defendant to be held in pre-trial detention and heightened security measures.

Since his unexpected arrest on July 25, Zambada has been held in the border city of El Paso, Texas. The Western District Court of Texas authorized the transfer of the drug lord last week, but since then, the U.S. has kept the details of his transfer secret. The hearing scheduled for Friday 10 a.m. is the first evidence that the legal battle against El Mayo will continue in Brooklyn, New York, where he faces charges of fentanyl trafficking, organized crime, possession of firearms and money laundering.

The New York case dates back to 2009, but was updated in February to include fentanyl trafficking charges. It covers a period spanning from the late 1980s until this year. Filed in 2012, the Texas case, on the other hand, focuses on crimes committed more than a decade ago, when El Mayo and El Chapo — as leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel — launched a war against the Juarez Cartel to control the drug trafficking route between Chihuahua and Texas, one of the most important and lucrative.

If brought to trial, the evidence and testimony presented by U.S. authorities would paint a much more recent picture of the Sinaloa Cartel: its operations in nearly 50 countries, rivalry with other criminal groups, its business model and alliances with politicians and law enforcement officials. “The defendant has devoted his efforts over decades to growing, increasing, and enhancing the power of the Cartel — and his individual power and position in the Cartel after his partner El Chapo was captured,” states the Attorney’s Office detention memo on Zambada.

The document argued that the trials against Guzmán and García Luna — Mexico’s drug czar during the government of Felipe Calderón (2006-2012) — are a precedent for what can be expected to be revealed about El Mayo’s criminal empire and how these revelations will be received by Mexico. “Numerous witnesses have testified, including at the trials of El Chapo and corrupt former Mexican secretary of public security Genaro García Luna, that corruption at all levels was necessary to allow the defendant’s criminal enterprise to function so effectively at such a large scale: from local police officers who escorted the drugs through Mexico, to corrupt officials who informed the Cartel of military actions, thwarted capture operations, and consulted with the Cartel about proceedings and investigations against it,” says the detention memo.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that the criminal organization paid millions of dollars in bribes and “corruption payments” under Zambada’s direction. In the document, El Mayo is presented as one of the most violent and powerful criminals in the world. According to the detention memo, he had a team of hitmen, and “maintained an arsenal of military-grade weapons to protect his person, his drugs, and his empire.” Zambada is also accused of ordering numerous kidnappings and murders. “He is charged with conspiring to murder members of the Cartel, members of law enforcement, and members of rival cartels as part of his continuing criminal enterprise in the EDNY Indictment,” says the document.

Prosecutors also said they will seek an exemplary sentence against El Mayo. “The defendant faces either the death penalty or a mandatory life sentence on the continuing criminal enterprise charge, as well as a 30-year mandatory minimum sentence on the firearms charge and multiple 10-year mandatory minimum sentences on the other drug counts,” states the detention memo. In addition to the fentanyl trafficking charges filed just last February, Zambada faces 14 counts for trafficking cocaine, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine.

El Mayo appeared in a wheelchair and pleaded not guilty to all charges in Texas. After successfully defeating a first attempt to move him to New York, the drug lord’s defense team did a U-turn and agreed to have their client tried in another state. Brian Cogan — the same judge who oversaw the trials against El Chapo and García Luna — will be in charge of determining the measures for the Zambada trial and will also be in charge of the judicial proceedings.

The hearing on Friday, however, will be held before Judge James R. Cho, who is the investigating magistrate. While El Mayo’s transfer to New York was announced in the United States, in Mexico, two factions of the Sinaloa Cartel — Los Mayos and Los Chapitos, led by El Chapo’s sons — have been fighting since last Monday, with at least nine people killed in the clashes.

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