Alleged Mexican kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada enters a not guilty plea to US accusations

The infamous “El Mayo” Zambada, who is accused of being a co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, entered a not guilty plea to drug-related charges in the United States on Friday. His arrest, along with the arrest of a Mexican drug lord’s son in Texas, was a significant victory for American law enforcement and could cause a significant upheaval in the criminal system of Mexico.

According to court documents, Zambada gave the order for a not guilty plea to be filed on his behalf, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Anne Berton granted it.

Zambada, who is thought to be in his 70s and was in a wheelchair, was read his rights and the allegations during his initial court appearance on Friday in a Texas courthouse, according to a transcript.

He gave up his desire to attend his arraignment on Wednesday of next week. According to the documents, he must personally attend a status conference on Thursday before U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone, who will be in charge of the case’s remaining proceedings.

Zambada is alleged to have been one of the most influential traffickers in Mexican history, having joined forces with Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to form the Sinaloa Cartel. El Chapo, opens new tab, is a man incarcerated in a maximum security facility for life after being extradited to the United States in 2017.

Zambada and El Chapo’s son Joaquin Guzman Lopez are accused of smuggling large amounts of fentanyl and other drugs onto American streets, and they are facing numerous indictments in the US. Overdoses from fentanyl have skyrocketed to become the country’s greatest cause of death for individuals between the ages of 18 and 45.

A U.S. official stated that Guzman Lopez, who is in his 30s, is scheduled to appear in court in Chicago the following week.

The two were taken into custody on Thursday after arriving in the El Paso region in a private aircraft.

Prior to a Department of Justice announcement on Thursday night confirming the two men’s detention in El Paso, Reuters was the first news outlet to break the story.

President of the United States Joe Biden announced the arrests on Friday and promised to keep fighting drug trafficking.

“The plague of fentanyl has claimed the lives of far too many of our citizens. “This harmful drug has caused far too many families to be destroyed and to suffer,” he stated in a statement.

A SCAM

Three current and former U.S. officials knowledgeable with the operation, who wished to remain anonymous in order to speak openly about the events, said that Guzman Lopez enticed Zambada to the country.

“My client did not enter the United States of America willingly,” stated Frank Perez, Zambada’s attorney.

Drug lords have become prime targets for American law enforcement, who often make plea agreements with them in exchange for information that helps bring other senior cartel members to justice.

It was not immediately clear to Reuters whether a plea agreement had been reached.

Since their father’s extradition in 2017, Zambada and Guzman Lopez’s sons have had a tense relationship. The arrests of Zambada and Guzman Lopez could potentially incite instability or perhaps violence in their home regions in the northern state of Sinaloa.

According to Mexico’s defense ministry, 200 members of the special forces have been deployed to Sinaloa in order to bolster security.

When a key Sinaloa boss was arrested in 2008, a violent inter-cartel conflict broke out. El Chapo was accused by his family members of arranging the arrest in coordination with Mexican officials, which led to a violent split between two dominant groups inside the criminal organization.

One of El Chapo’s four sons, Guzman Lopez is also referred to as Little Chapos, or Los Chapitos, and he inherited their father’s cartel division. Ovidio Guzman Lopez, his brother, was detained and extradited to the United States last year.

Ovidio Guzman was the subject of social media rumors that he had been freed, but in a statement, U.S. ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar stated that Guzman “remains in custody in the United States.”

U.S. authorities have accused the crime syndicate of being the largest supplier of fentanyl to the United States, which has made the cartel their top target in recent years.

According to U.S. authorities, the Sinaloa cartel is one of Mexico’s two most potent organized crime gangs and traffics drugs into more than 50 countries worldwide.

The kids of Zambada and El Chapo come from two different trafficking generations, each with his own unique style.

Zambada has a reputation for being “old-school,” working in the background and staying out of the spotlight. In contrast, El Chapo’s sons are known for being flamboyant narcos who sought notoriety as they rose through the cartel’s ranks.

The sons of El Chapo are also rumored to be more aggressive and impetuous than Zambada, who was regarded as a cunning businessman.

A CRIMEAN ENTERPRISE

Zambada entered a not guilty plea to three counts in Texas, including money laundering, conspiracy to import illegal drugs, and continuing criminal activity.

The accusation, which was submitted in April 2012, claims that cartel members commanded by Zambada and El Chapo abducted a resident of Texas in 2009 to exact revenge for the disappearance of a marijuana shipment that had been intercepted, and in 2010 they abducted a citizen of the United States and two members of his family.

Prosecutors said that the two victims were murdered and that their remains were found in Juarez, Mexico.

Mexican Security Minister Rosa Rodriguez stated that although her country was notified of the American government’s detentions, Mexican officials were not involved in the operation.

She stated that it was unclear if the two individuals turned themselves in to American authorities or were taken into custody.

Rodriguez told a press conference, “The Mexican government did not participate in this detention or surrender.”