HOUSTON: Sinaloa cartel co-founder Ismael Zambada Garcia appeared in a Texas courtroom in a wheelchair on Thursday to face US charges of drug trafficking, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder.
Zambada, 76, was taken into US custody a week ago after he landed in a private plane at an airport near El Paso, Texas, with Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of another Sinaloa co-founder, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
The alleged drug kingpin, also known as “El Mayo,” appeared frail during a brief status hearing in federal court in El Paso, the El Paso Times reported.
The hearing focused on whether one of Zambada’s lawyers had a conflict of interest because he previously represented his son, who was arrested by Mexican authorities in 2013 and extradited to the United States.
The second issue discussed at the hearing was whether Zambada should be put on trial with other indicted members of the Sinaloa cartel. Zambada faces charges in several US states, and the Justice Department will ultimately decide where he will be tried.
Cardone has scheduled another status hearing for September 9.
The circumstances surrounding the arrest of Zambada and Guzman Lopez, whose father, “El Chapo,” was convicted on drug charges in New York in 2019 and is serving a life sentence in a maximum-security prison remain a mystery.
Initial U.S. media reports cited U.S. officials as saying that Guzman Lopez induced Zambada to board the plane when he told him they were going to inspect property along the U.S.-Mexico border.
But The New York Times, citing three federal law enforcement officials, reported that Zambada was ambushed in the capital of Sinaloa state, Culiacan, at what he expected to be a “friendly meeting” with Guzman Lopez, but instead witnessed a violent clash between bodyguards by two men.
Zambada was allegedly handcuffed, a bag placed over his head and forced into a car.
Guzman Lopez, 38, who faces drug trafficking, money laundering and weapons charges, pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Chicago District Court and was remanded in custody.
Zambado’s attorney, Frank Perez, claims his client was “kidnapped” and taken to the United States against his will.
The Times reported that the U.S. government had no “real-time information” about the specific methods that were used to bring Zambada to the United States. The Mexican government also denied any prior knowledge of the operation.
The US State Department offered a reward of $15 million for the arrest of Zambada and $5 million for the capture of Guzman Lopez.
US Drug Enforcement Administration chief Anne Milgram last week hailed Zambada’s arrest, saying it “strikes at the heart of the cartel responsible for most of the drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, killing Americans from coast to coast.”
