Joaquín Guzmán López, son of Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday, July 30, to drug trafficking charges in a Chicago court, where he was transferred after being arrested along with Sinaloa cartel co-founder Ismael “Mayo” Zambada last week in Texas, United States.
At a hearing in federal court in Chicago, Illinois, presided over by Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman, Guzmán López, 38, pleaded not guilty to the federal charges against him, court sources confirmed.
The judge ordered her to remain in jail without bail. Her next hearing is scheduled for September 30.
“Los Chapitos” indicted for drugs, weapons and money laundering
El Chapo’s son, who told the court he suffers from thyroid problems and high blood pressure, was indicted in 2023 along with three of his brothers, known as “Los Chapitos,” for drug trafficking, money laundering and weapons possession.
His brother Ovidio Guzman was extradited from Mexico last year and also pleaded not guilty to the charges in a Chicago court.
Guzmán López was arrested last Thursday when the private plane he was travelling in landed at an airfield near El Paso, in the state of Texas.
Traveling with him was “El Mayo” Zambada, one of the founders of the Sinaloa cartel in the 1980s, along with El Chapo, who is serving a life sentence in the United States.
Last week, Zambada, 76, also pleaded not guilty in federal court in El Paso to all charges, including drug trafficking, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder.
A new hearing is scheduled for Thursday in a court in El Paso, Texas, which Zambada must attend.
Speculations about arrest
The arrival of the two drug traffickers in El Paso, where they were arrested by US agents, is the subject of speculation.
According to the US press, citing local judicial sources, Joaquín Guzmán López betrayed his father’s former business partner and convinced him to board a plane with him to northern Mexico, but which ultimately landed in the neighbouring country.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) claims that Los Chapitos are waging “an internal battle” against “El Mayo,” who “is not in good health” and has reportedly lost power in the criminal organization.
Defense alleges kidnapping
His lawyer, Frank Pérez, announced that his client was “kidnapped” and taken to the United States against his will.
The agents who arrested them did not know that Zambada was on board the plane, for whom the United States was offering $15 million, according to a report from U.S. authorities delivered to Mexico, which did not participate in the operation.
According to Mexican Security Secretary Rosa Icela Rodriguez, U.S. authorities were informed “on several previous occasions” that Guzman Lopez was considering turning himself in to U.S. justice, but he had never made that intention concrete.
“El Chapo’s” son planned to surrender
On Thursday morning, a new report indicated that Guzmán López planned to surrender by entering U.S. territory that same day on a private flight, the document adds, without detailing where Zambada, who until now had eluded capture for more than four decades, boarded the plane.
The lawyer for El Chapo’s son, Jeffrey Lichtman, told reporters on Tuesday that there was “no agreement between Joaquín Guzmán and the U.S. government.”
This statement only raises questions about why Guzmán López came to the United States, if he had not reached an agreement with the American authorities.
Keep reading:
- The betrayal that led to the capture of El Mayo Zambada and El Chapo’s son in Texas
- “El Mayo” Zambada pleads “not guilty” to drug trafficking in Texas
- The 4 cases against Mayo Zambada that would leave him in prison forever