The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) has decided to classify the extradition request for Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, co-founding leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, submitted by the Mexican government to US authorities as confidential and reserved for a period of five years.
According to the ministry, revealing the details of this request would violate due process, undermine the presumption of innocence of the accused, and could hinder ongoing criminal investigations.
The Mexican Foreign Ministry’s decision, as reported by the newspaper Milenio, is based on the fact that the information contained in extradition requests is provided to the individuals sought only when they have been formally detained and the proceedings have begun before the authorities of the requested country.
“If the requested information were to be disclosed, the right to due process of the person sought for extradition, which in this specific case is Ismael Mario Zambada García, could be affected, since the information contained in an extradition request made by the Requesting State is made known to the fugitive from justice until he or she has been detained for international extradition purposes,” the agency responded.
The Mexican government justified the confidentiality of the request under the terms of the National Code of Criminal Procedure, stating that its disclosure would violate Articles 15 and 128 of said law. These articles guarantee the right to privacy and confidentiality, as well as the confidentiality of investigative acts, including related records and documents, regardless of their content or nature.
The Foreign Ministry argued that making this information public “would significantly undermine the prosecution of crimes,” as it could obstruct the powers of the Public Prosecutor’s Office during the investigation and before the federal courts.
The extradition request, the agency indicated, is being prepared and provided exclusively by the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) as support for the proceedings, with no intention of disclosing it to the public.
The information will be subject to confidentiality for five years, in accordance with the federal government’s transparency and personal data protection guidelines.
What is the legal status of El Mayo Zambada?
In early February, the head of the FGR, Alejandro Gertz Manero, confirmed that Mexico had requested Zambada’s extradition from the moment of his arrest. During the morning press conference on February 2, Gertz noted that Mexican authorities had reiterated their request four times, but to date have received no response.
Zambada was arrested in July 2024 on U.S. soil. His arrest came in the context of an alleged kidnapping case, in which Joaquín Guzmán López, one of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s sons, was also apprehended. He is identified as a member of the Sinaloa Cartel faction known as Los Chapitos.
In the same context, another of El Chapo’s sons, Ovidio Guzmán, remains in custody in the United States since his extradition in September 2023, months after being captured in Sinaloa. According to specialized journalists, negotiating a reduction in his brother’s sentence was one of the reasons that motivated Joaquín Jr. to deceive El Mayo into the United States.
In the United States, Zambada faces 17 charges in the Brooklyn District Court in New York related to drug trafficking and other crimes. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Sinaloa Cartel is one of the main perpetrators of fentanyl trafficking into the United States, a substance that has caused a public health crisis due to overdoses. For these acts, the kingpin could face the death penalty.
Meanwhile, Ismael Zambada García faces three outstanding arrest warrants in Mexico.
El Mayo Zambada’s hearing, originally scheduled for April 22 in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York, was rescheduled for June 16, 2025.
The postponement came after an agreement between the defense team of the alleged leader of the Sinaloa Cartel and the United States Attorney’s Office, who informed Judge Brian M. Cogan of a shared scheduling conflict. In the official document sent by Special Prosecutor John Durham, it was detailed that both parties continue negotiations seeking a possible resolution that would allow him to avoid trial through a plea agreement.
The US Attorney’s Office confirmed that the exchange of evidentiary materials has already begun and that the process includes the review of potentially classified evidence. Meanwhile, Zambada García’s defense team has expressed their client’s willingness to plead guilty to any charge, as long as it does not carry the death penalty.
Source: infobae
