NEW YORK: Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the notorious alleged co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, pleaded not guilty to US drug charges on Friday after he and a son of a Mexican drug lord were arrested in Texas in a dramatic achievement for US law enforcement that could usher in a seismic shift to Mexico’s criminal landscape.

Court records showed that Zambada directed that a not guilty plea be entered on his behalf, which was accepted by US Magistrate Judge Anne Berton.

At an initial court appearance in a Texas courtroom on Friday, Zambada, who is believed to be in his 70s and was in a wheelchair, was read his rights and charges, according to a transcript.

He waived his right to be present at an arraignment next Wednesday. He will be required to appear in person at a status conference on Thursday before US District Judge Kathleen Cardone, who will oversee the rest of the case, the records show.

Zambada is accused of being one of the most consequential traffickers in Mexico’s history, having co-founded the Sinaloa Cartel with Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman. El Chapo was extradited to the US in 2017 and is serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison.

Zambada and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, a son of El Chapo, face multiple charges in the US for allegedly funneling huge quantities of fentanyl and other drugs to US streets. Fentanyl overdoses have surged to become the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45.

Guzman Lopez, who is in his 30s, is due to appear in court in Chicago next week, according to a US official. The two were detained after landing in a private plane in the El Paso area on Thursday.

On Friday, US President Joe Biden heralded the arrests and vowed to continue combating drug trafficking. “Too many of our citizens have lost their lives to the scourge of fentanyl. Too many families have been broken and are suffering because of this destructive drug,” he said in a statement.

‘Trap’

Guzman Lopez lured Zambada to the US, according to three current and former US officials familiar with the operation, who sought anonymity to speak candidly about the events.

“My client did not come to the US voluntarily,” said Zambada’s lawyer, Frank Perez.

US authorities have made drug bosses key targets, frequently striking plea bargain deals with them in exchange for information that leads to the capture of other high-ranking cartel figures.

Zambada and El Chapo’s sons have had a fractious relationship since their father was extradited in 2017, and the arrests of Zambada and Guzman Lopez may trigger instability or even violence in their heartlands in the northern state of Sinaloa. Mexico’s defence ministry on Friday said it had sent 200 special forces soldiers to Sinaloa to enhance security. A bloody inter-cartel war erupted in 2008 when another senior Sinaloa leader was detained. His family members accused El Chapo of orchestrating the arrest with Mexican authorities, triggering a violent fissure between two powerful factions of the crime group. Guzman Lopez is one of four sons of El Chapo — known as Los Chapitos, or Little Chapos — who inherited their father’s faction of the cartel. His brother, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, was arrested last year and extradited to the US.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2024