“El Mayo”, Alleged Mexican Drug Lord Pleaded Not Guilty To Drug Trafficking Charges In US Court

In the same New York courtroom where Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, a fellow co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, was found guilty five years prior, suspected Mexican leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada entered a not guilty plea to drug trafficking charges on Friday.
In a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge James Cho in Brooklyn, Zambada entered a plea to the 17 criminal counts he faces, which also include charges of money laundering and firearms possession. Zambada, 76, was placed in jail pending trial by Cho’s decision. Zambada was described as “one of the most, if not the most, powerful narcotics kingpins in the world” by prosecutor Francisco Navarro.

“A United States jail cell is the only thing that will prevent the defendant from committing further crimes and ensure his return to court,” Navarro stated at the hearing. The request of the prosecution to put Zambada in jail was accepted by defense attorney Frank Perez. Zambada answered the judge’s inquiries with a “yes” or “no” through an interpreter while donning a gray short-sleeve shirt.

In a huge breakthrough for U.S. law enforcement, Zambada and one of Guzman’s sons, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, were apprehended on July 25 at an airfield in New Mexico. He was subsequently sent to El Paso, Texas, where he entered a not guilty plea to various allegations of drug trafficking in a federal court. The U.S. Department of Justice requested that he be tried in Brooklyn before being moved here, so U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone ordered his transfer there last week.

Despite being confined to a wheelchair for his initial court appearance in El Paso, Zambada managed to walk on his own on Friday. Following the hearing, Perez informed reporters, “His health is very good.” Allegations about the trafficking of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is causing an epidemic in the United States, are part of the Brooklyn case, which was initiated in 2009. The next court date for Zambada is October 31.

“El Chapo” Guzman resides in a high security prison in Colorado, where he is receiving a life sentence. In Chicago, his son entered a not guilty plea to accusations of cocaine trafficking. Following Zambada’s arrest, shootouts this week in the western Mexican state of Sinaloa stoked worries that an intra-cartel war may soon break out. Fighting has killed 12 people since Monday, and on Thursday state authorities canceled national day celebrations and shut schools in response to the escalating violence.