Prosecutors want to relocate Sinaloa Drug cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada The case was brought before a federal court in Brooklyn, while Mexico said it was seeking more information about the flight that led to the arrest of two suspected drug lords on American soil.

Zambada, known as one of the leading figures and co-founder of the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel, is facing charges in several US states. He and Joaquin Guzman Lopeza son of notorious Sinaloa boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, were arrested last month after flying to New Mexico. Zambada said he was kidnapped in his home country while on his way to what he thought was a meeting with a Mexican official.

Mexican officials said Thursday they had asked the U.S. Justice Department for information on the flight that transported Zambada and Guzman from Mexico to the United States requested from Mexican officials, among other things, the plane’s serial number, FAA records, customs and border clearance documents and the document containing the preliminary passenger information. Officials said the information has not yet been received.

Zambada, 76, has so far appeared in U.S. federal court in El Paso, Texas, one of the judicial districts where he was indicted, and has pleaded not guilty to organized crime conspiracy, drug conspiracy and other charges.

Federal prosecutors in Texas on Thursday asked a court to hold a hearing to begin the necessary procedural steps to transfer him to the New York judicial district, which includes Brooklyn, where the elder “El Chapo” Guzmán was sentenced to life in prison in 2019 on drug and conspiracy charges. El Chapo is serving a life sentence in a Maximum security prison in Florence, Colorado, where numerous prominent prisoners are housed.

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” who was arrested along with Zambada, has pleaded not guilty to 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 often quarreled with Guzmán’s sons, the so-called Chapitos. Fearing that Zambada’s arrest could trigger a violent power struggle within the cartel, the Mexican government immediately dispatched 200 special forces soldiers to the state of Sinaloa. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador publicly appealed to the cartel factions not to fight each other.

Federal authorities said “El Mayo” and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, one of the 12 children of notorious drug lord El Chapo, were arrested without incident near El Paso, Texas, on July 25 after flying out of Mexico.