NEW YORK (AP) — A Mexican drug lord who arrested in the USA could face trial in New York City after prosecutors filed a motion Thursday to transfer him from Texas.

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambadaknown as one of the leaders and co-founders of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, is facing charges in several US states. He and a son of notorious Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán were arrested last month after flying to New Mexico. Zambada said he had been kidnapped in his home country on his way to what he thought was a meeting with a Mexican official.

Zambada, 76, has previously appeared before the US Federal Court in El PasoTexas, one of the jurisdictions where he was charged. He has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit organized crime, conspiracy to commit drug offenses, and other charges.

Federal prosecutors in Texas on Thursday asked a court to hold a hearing to begin the necessary procedural steps to extradite him to the New York judicial district, which includes Brooklyn, where the elder Guzmán was. convicted in 2019 of drug and conspiracy charges and sentenced to life imprisonment in prison.

If the prosecutor’s wish is carried out, the trial against Zambada in Texas would continue after the trial in New York.

A message seeking comment was sent to Zambada’s lawyers.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn declined to comment. Zambada is accused of operating a continuing criminal organization, conspiracy to commit murder, drug offenses and other crimes.

Meanwhile, Joaquín Guzmán López, the son of “El Chapo,” was arrested with Zambada pleaded not guilty on drug trafficking and other charges in federal court in Chicago.

Zambada co-led the Sinaloa Cartel with the elder Guzmán, which grew from a regional cartel into a massive manufacturer and smuggler of illegal fentanyl pills and other drugs into the United States, authorities say.

Zambada was considered a good negotiator and was seen as the syndicate’s strategist and dealmaker. He was believed to be more involved in the syndicate’s day-to-day affairs than the more extroverted Guzmán.

Zambada, who keeps a low profile, had never been behind bars until his arrest in the United States last month.

He was often at odds with Guzmán’s sons, the so-called Chapitos or little Chapos. Fearing that Zambada’s arrest could trigger a fierce power struggle Within the cartel, the Mexican government quickly deployed 200 special forces soldiers to the state of Sinaloa, and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador publicly called on the cartel factions not to fight each other.