Mexico City, Mexico - Drug trafficker Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada has asked Mexico to seek his repatriation, after facing the possibility of being sentenced to death in the US, President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed Friday.

Zambada, who co-founded the Sinaloa Cartel with notorious drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, was arrested in the US last July along with Joaquin Guzman Lopez, a son of El Chapo.

Zambada, now 77, alleged that he had been kidnapped in Mexico and delivered into US custody against his will, in an apparent attempt by Guzman Lopez to gain leniency for himself and an imprisoned brother.

The Mexican public prosecutor's office will study Zambada's request, which was received at the country's consulate in New York, Sheinbaum said at a regular news conference.

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The issue concerned the rights of a Mexican citizen at risk of being judged without all the legal procedures having been followed, she said.

According to the Mexican newspaper Reforma, Zambada's defense asked for his "immediate repatriation" on the grounds that his transfer to the US was "irregular."

Unless the Mexican government intervenes, "I will be sentenced to death without a doubt," according to the request published by the daily.

Zambada's capture sparked a violent internal split in the Sinaloa Cartel, one of eight drug trafficking groups that have been designated terrorist organizations by US President Donald Trump.