Mexico reviewing request from cartel leader jailed in the U.S. to be sent back

MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s government is reviewing a petition by Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a longtime leader of the Sinaloa cartel who is jailed in the United States, to be returned to Mexico for trial, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday.

The president confirmed Mexico’s consulate in New York had received the request.

Sheinbaum noted that Mexico’s attorney general was already investigating the circumstances of how Zambada was arrested in the U.S. with another Sinaloa cartel leader by authorities near El Paso, Texas, in July. He is awaiting trial.

“No one is defending this person,” Sheinbaum said. “Beyond the person and his crimes … the issue is how he was detained.”

Zambada has maintained that he was kidnapped by Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of former cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, and flown to the United States. The Mexican government shortly after said it was opening an investigation of possible treason against those involved in turning over a Mexican citizen to foreign agents.

Guzmán López was also arrested by U.S. authorities on arrival in Texas.

In his request, Zambada argued that the legality of his entering the United States has not been verified and asked that he instead be tried in Mexico, according to a report in Mexico’s Reforma newspaper Friday.

He also asked the Mexican government to intervene so that the death penalty is not a possibility in his case, the report said.

In January, U.S. prosecutors said they were discussing a possible plea deal with Zambada.

Zambada is one of the most notorious drug traffickers in the world and a leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel for decades alongside “El Chapo.” He is known for running the cartel’s smuggling operations while keeping a lower profile.

Mexico could ask that the death penalty not be on the table for Zambada’s case since there is no death penalty in Mexico, but normally the U.S. only repatriates convicted criminals after they serve their sentences.

An exception came in November 2020 during the first administration of President Trump. Drug trafficking charges against Mexico’s former Defense Secretary Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos were dropped after Mexico protested his arrest in Los Angeles. The U.S. returned Cienfuegos to Mexico where he was promptly exonerated.