'El Mayo' Zambada transferred to New York for fentanyl trafficking trial

The leader of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, will soon be tried in court in Brooklyn, New York.

It was his lawyer, Frank Perez, who confirmed the information to CNN after informing that the drug trafficker will be transferred on a date yet to be determined from El Paso, Texas. He was detained there a week ago by authorities after allegedly being betrayed by one of "El Chapo's" sons, Joaquín Guzmán López. He allegedly tricked him so that Zambada would take a plane with the intention of seeing properties in northern Mexico but that, instead, landed in the US city.

"El Mayo" Zambada, 76, must appear in the federal court in the Eastern District of New York, the same court that has tried other important figures in the world of drug trafficking such as Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán himself, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2019, or even the son of "El Mayo," Vicente Zambada Niebla, known as "El Vicentillo," who was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2019.

The Sinaloa Cartel leader's appearance in New York comes after Zambada had to appear in two other initial hearings before a judge. The first took place in Texas where the drug lord pleaded "not guilty" to charges of narcotics trafficking, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder. Following this, he was transferred to Chicago, where he also pleaded "not guilty" to drug trafficking charges.

However, the Brooklyn indictment is one of the most relevant as it will be the only one to try the drug kingpin for trafficking fentanyl, one of the most dangerous opioids that has caused a serious crisis of overdose deaths in the nation. 

His arrest was widely celebrated by US authorities. According to them, the drug trafficker had been a fugitive for almost 50 years in Mexico and was one of the most wanted criminals by the United States, which offered a reward of $15 million.