2024-08-01 23:19:37
Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, appeared in a wheelchair in a Texas court on Thursday to face charges in the United States for drug trafficking, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder.
Zambada appeared vulnerable during a brief hearing in federal court in El Paso, the El Paso Times reported.
Prosecutors arrived at the hearing in a wheelchair surrounded by four deputies, the media reported, while a dozen other members of law enforcement patrolled the inside and outside of the court.
The hearing focused on whether one of Zambada’s lawyers had a dispute of interest in representing his son, who was arrested by Mexican authorities in 2013 and extradited to the United States.
El Mayo, who has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail, told the judge he wanted to keep his lawyers, the El Paso Times reported.
The second issue that was discussed at the trial was whether he should be tried along with others accused of belonging to the Sinaloa congressional group.
Zambia faces charges in several states across the country, and the Justice Department will decide where to try them.
El Mayo, 76, was arrested last Thursday with Joaquín Guzmán López, 38, the son of drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, after landing on a private plane at the airport in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, near El Paso, Texas
According to the former head of international operations for the US Department of Enforcement (DEA) Mike Vigil, Zambada hopes to “provide very valuable information about high-ranking politicians in Mexico who provide security” for them to work.
Guzmán López is still in custody but transferred to Chicago, where on Tuesday he again pleaded “not guilty” to drug trafficking. His lawyer ruled that there was an agreement between Guzmán and the US government.
-Kidnapping?-
Lawyer Frank Pérez has told the press that his client was kidnapped and then taken to US territory on a plane.
“That doesn’t stand up to the idea, the leader of the cartel doesn’t go without a security guard (…) Apparently Guzmán Jr. told ‘El Mayo’ to go see a ranch and then take a plane to Santa Teresa, New Mexico ” added Vigil.
Guzmán Jr.’s attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, said his client was not charged with kidnapping.
Mexican authorities have reportedly not participated in the operation and clarified on Monday that the United States also denied that it had been planned.
The agents who stopped “El Mayo” and Guzmán Jr. he did not know that Zambada, who was offered 15 million dollars by the United States, was on the plane.
Mexican authorities explained that the United States was told “on several occasions” that Guzmán López was considering surrender, but he never made this decision.
Last Thursday morning, a report indicated that Guzmán López planned to surrender by entering the US territory on a private plane the same day, without further details. Information that “El Mayo” was traveling on the plane was received about two hours before it landed in Santa Teresa, according to Mexico.
American authorities await their arrival and arrest the passengers after their arrival.
After the arrest, reports spread that Ovidio Guzmán, another son of “El Chapo” imprisoned in the United States, had become a protected witness. Washington declared that he was in his custody.
According to the DEA, “Los Chapitos”, as the sons of El Chapo are known, are fighting an “internal war” against El Mayo, who is “not in good health” and has lost power in the organization.
-child’s reward-
According to Vigil, Guzmán López da Zambada because of what his son did to Chapo, who was imprisoned in the United States, and because he and his imprisoned brother were seeking prison benefits.
Vigil saw no significant impact on the cartel with Zambada’s arrest, as the infrastructure remained intact. “It is the most powerful cartel in the world” and he did not foresee that there would be a massacre to succeed him, because that would benefit his rivals, the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel.
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