EL PASO — Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, appeared in a wheelchair in a Texas court on Thursday to face U.S. charges of drug trafficking, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder.
Zambada appeared weak during the brief hearing in federal court in El Paso, the El Paso Times reported.
The defendant arrived at the hearing in a wheelchair surrounded by four officers, the newspaper reported, while another dozen law enforcement officers kept watch inside and outside the court.
The hearing focused on whether one of Zambada’s lawyers had a conflict of interest for having represented 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 attorneys, the El Paso Times reported.
The second question discussed at the hearing was whether he should be tried alongside other defendants accused of belonging to the Sinaloa cartel.
Zambada faces charges in several states across the country, and the Justice Department will decide where he will be tried.
El Mayo, 76, was arrested last Thursday along with Joaquin Guzman Lopez, 38, son of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, after landing in a private plane at an airport in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, near El Paso, Texas.
According to Mike Vigil, former head of international operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Zambada is expected to “provide very valuable information about high-ranking politicians in Mexico who were providing them with protection” to operate.
Guzmán López was also arrested but transferred to Chicago, where he also pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking on Tuesday. His lawyer ruled out that there was an agreement between Guzmán and the US government.
Kidnapping?
Attorney Frank Perez told reporters that his client was kidnapped and then taken to U.S. territory on a plane.
“That doesn’t make sense. The leader of a cartel doesn’t go around without a security escort (…) Apparently Guzmán Jr. told ‘El Mayo’ to go see a ranch and then took the plane to Santa Teresa, New Mexico,” added Vigil.
Guzman Jr.’s attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, clarified that his client is not charged with kidnapping.
Mexican authorities have said they had no involvement in the operation, and said on Monday that the United States had also denied having planned it.
The agents who arrested “El Mayo” and Guzmán Jr. did not know that Zambada, for whom the United States was offering 15 million dollars, was on the plane.
Mexican authorities said the United States had been informed “on several occasions” that Guzmán López was considering turning himself in, but had never made that intention concrete.
On Thursday morning, a report indicated that Guzmán López planned to surrender by entering U.S. territory that same day on a private flight, without further details. The information that “El Mayo” was traveling on the plane was received about two hours before it landed in Santa Teresa, according to Mexico.
US authorities waited for their arrival and arrested the passengers after they got off.
After the arrest, there were reports that Ovidio Guzmán, another son of “El Chapo” who is in prison in the United States, had become a protected witness. Washington clarified that he remains in its custody.
According to the DEA, “Los Chapitos,” as El Chapo’s sons are known, are fighting “an internal battle” against El Mayo, who “is not in good health” and has reportedly lost power in the criminal organization.
The Son’s Revenge
For Vigil, Guzmán López betrayed Zambada because of what his son did to El Chapo, who is imprisoned in the United States, and because both he and his imprisoned brother are seeking prison benefits.
Vigil does not see a major impact on the cartel with Zambada’s arrest, because the infrastructure remains intact. “It is the most powerful cartel in the world” and he does not foresee a massacre to succeed him, since that would benefit his rivals, the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel.
Source: With information from AFP
