U.S. prosecutors said Tuesday they won't seek the death penalty in their cases against Mexican cartel kingpin Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and Rafael Caro Quintero , the drug lord charged with orchestrating the 1985 killing of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent.

Caro Quintero, 72, and Zambada, 75, have pleaded not guilty to an array of drug trafficking charges. The prosecutions are separate, but they similarly target two of Mexico's most notorious narcos.

Earlier this year, federal prosecutors said they were considering seeking the death penalty against Quintero, whose top count of leading a continuing criminal enterprise carries a mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment.

But it is unclear whether taking the death penalty off the table signals any possibili

See Full Page