(New York) A son of the famous Mexican drug lord “El Chapo” pleaded not guilty Tuesday in American justice, five days after his arrest surrounded by gray areas in Texas in the company of the co-founder of their Sinaloa cartel.
After the thriller-worthy double arrest of Joaquin Guzman Lopez and Ismael Zambada Garcia, alias “El Mayo”, as they got off their plane on Thursday on the American side of the border with Mexico, the lawyer of the former affirmed that “no agreement” of surrender had been sealed with Washington.
Guzman Lopez, 38, “pleaded not guilty to the charges in the indictment and will remain in custody” until the next procedural hearing on September 30, confirmed to AFP the federal prosecutor’s office in Illinois in Chicago, the jurisdiction before which he was charged with drug trafficking, money laundering and possession of weapons.
On July 25, Zambada “El Mayo” Garcia, 76, co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, was arrested along with one of the five sons of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, co-creator of this criminal organization and who is serving a life sentence in the United States.
At the end of an operation as mysterious as it was daring, the two men were picked up as their private plane landed in Texas, the immense American state bordering Mexico.
PHOTO JOSE LUIS GONZALEZ, REUTERS
The two men were picked up as their private plane landed in Texas.
A “very hard blow” to one of the “most deadly” drug trafficking networks in the world, particularly because of the ravages of fentanyl, the American authorities welcomed.
Divergent versions
But versions of the circumstances of the operation differ.
THE New York Timesciting anti-drug officials, said Guzman Lopez convinced “El Mayo” “under false pretenses” to board the plane supposedly bound for southern Mexico.
The plane is believed to have actually headed north and landed in El Paso, Texas.
But the lawyer for “El Chapo’s” son, Jeffrey Lichtman, told reporters in Chicago that there was “no agreement between Joaquin Guzman Lopez and the U.S. government. Period.”
So why would he fly with “El Mayo” to Texas without coming to an agreement with the American authorities, asks CNN.
“El Mayo’s” lawyer, Frank Perez, has believed since Sunday that his client was not “deceived” by Guzman Lopez but “kidnapped” and “taken against his will to the United States.”
“El Mayo” already pleaded not guilty Friday to drug trafficking and money laundering before a federal judge in Texas and his formal arraignment is scheduled for Thursday in El Paso.
Mexico not aware
Mexico has acknowledged that it did not participate in the operation and knew nothing of the details.
Its president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, demanded from his big neighbor a “complete report,” “respect” and “transparency,” and its security minister, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, wondered whether “El Mayo” had been “captured” or had “surrendered” himself.
She said Monday, citing the report sent by Washington, that U.S. anti-drug agents did not know until two hours before the plane landed that “El Mayo” was on board.
According to this American report, Guzman Lopez would have wanted to surrender himself several times in the United States, where his father “El Chapo” and one of his brothers, Ovidio, are imprisoned.
The latter would even be a witness protected by justice.
The anti-drug authorities, quoted by the press, believe that the sons of “El Chapo”, nicknamed “Los Chapitos”, are leading “an internal battle” against “El Mayo”, who is said to be ill and losing power at the head of Sinaloa.
In Mexico, drug-related violence is wreaking havoc, with more than 450,000 people murdered since the government launched a military offensive against drug cartels in 2006.
The United States recorded more than 107,000 overdose deaths in 2023, with fentanyl causing about 70% of them.