Mexican cartel leader ‘El Mayo’ Zambada pleads not guilty to US charges

NEW YORK (AP) — Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a powerful leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, pleaded not guilty Friday in a U.S. drug trafficking case in which he is accused of plotting murder and ordering torture.

Participating in a court hearing through a Spanish-language interpreter, Zambada gave yes-or-no answers to standard magistrate questions about whether he understood various documents and procedures. Asked how he felt, Zambada said, “Fine, fine.”

His lawyers pleaded not guilty on his behalf.

Outside court, Zambada attorney Frank Perez said his client is not considering making a deal with the government and that the attorney expects the case to go to trial.

“It’s a complicated matter,” he said.

Zambada has been wanted by U.S. law enforcement for more than two decades and has been in custody in the U.S. since July 25. On July 25, he landed in a private jet at an airport outside El Paso, Texas, with another fugitive cartel leader, Joaquín Guzmán López, federal authorities said.

Zambada later wrote in a letter that he had been kidnapped in Mexico and brought to the United States by Guzmán López, a son of imprisoned Sinaloa co-founder Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

Zambada’s lawyer declined to comment further on the allegations on Friday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge James Cho ordered Zambada held until trial. His lawyers did not request bail, and U.S. prosecutors asked the judge to keep him in custody.

“He was one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, drug lords in the world,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Francisco Navarro said. “He co-founded the Sinaloa Cartel and was at the top of the drug trade for decades.”

Zambada, 76, was in a wheelchair when he appeared in court last month in Texas, and U.S. marshals restrained him Friday as he walked into a federal courtroom in Brooklyn. He appeared to accept some help getting out of a chair after the brief hearing, then walked out slowly but unaided.

Perez said Friday after the trial that Zambada was healthy and “in good spirits.”

Sketch artists were seated in the small courtroom, but other journalists could only watch via a camera system due to a lack of seating.

In court and in an earlier letter to the judge, prosecutors said Zambada oversaw a large-scale and violent operation that included an arsenal of military-grade weapons, a private security force that almost resembled an army, and a corps of “sicarios,” or hitmen, who carried out assassinations, kidnappings and torture.

Prosecutors say he ordered the murder of his cousin, among other things, just a few months ago.

“A U.S. prison cell is the only thing that can stop the defendant from committing further crimes,” Navarro said.

Zambada also pleaded not guilty to the charges at an earlier court hearing in Texas. His next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 31.

Authorities say Zambada and “El Chapo” Guzmán built the Sinaloa cartel from a regional syndicate into a major manufacturer and smuggler of cocaine, heroin and other illegal drugs for the United States. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has described defeating the cartel as one of the agency’s top operational priorities.

Zambada is seen as the group’s strategist and dealmaker, and a less flamboyant figure than Guzmán. Zambada had never been behind bars until his arrest in July.

“His day of judgment in an American court has arrived and justice will follow,” Brooklyn-based U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement Friday.

Zambada’s arrest has sparked fighting in Mexico between rival factions in the Sinaloa cartel. Several people have been killed in gun battles. Schools in businesses in Culiacan, the Sinaloa capital, have been closed because of the fighting. The fighting is believed to be between factions loyal to Zambada and those led by other sons of “El Chapo” Guzmán, who was convicted in the U.S. in 2019 on drug and conspiracy charges and sentenced to life in prison.

It remains unclear why Guzmán López surrendered to U.S. authorities and took Zambada with him. Guzmán López is awaiting trial in Chicago on a separate drug trafficking charge, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

Associated Press video journalist David R. Martin contributed to this report.