Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of the convicted Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, has pleaded not guilty to charges of drug trafficking and other crimes in a U.S. courtroom. Guzman Lopez, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, appeared in court on Tuesday in Chicago, where federal prosecutors presented a five-count indictment that also includes weapon-related charges. U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman ordered him to be held until his trial, although no trial date was set; a subsequent court date was scheduled for September 30.
The hearing took place just days after U.S. authorities arrested Guzman Lopez and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a long-time member of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, in the El Paso, Texas area. Many details concerning the arrest remain unclear. U.S. officials familiar with the situation stated that Guzman Lopez tricked Zambada into boarding a propeller plane in Mexico under the pretense of viewing property in the northern regions of the country. Instead, the plane took them both to the U.S., where Guzman Lopez intended to surrender, while Zambada did not.
Zambada’s lawyer, Frank Perez, disputed the U.S. authorities’ account of the events, claiming that Guzman Lopez “kidnapped” Zambada and brought him to the U.S. against his will. Zambada also pleaded not guilty to drug-related charges in the El Paso court.
In response to the events surrounding their arrests, Mexico has initiated an investigation. The capture of both men has sparked speculation regarding the methods used by U.S. authorities and prompted Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to take the unusual step of publicly appealing to drug cartels not to fight among themselves. “Those who participate in these illegal activities know that confrontations solve nothing,” said Lopez Obrador on Monday, adding, “They would go out and risk the lives of others, and why make families suffer?”
There have been no immediate reports of increased violence over the weekend. However, the Sinaloa cartel has been characterized by disputes between followers of Zambada and rivals who support El Chapo’s sons, known as Los Chapitos (The Little Chapos). Their father was convicted of drug-related crimes in New York in 2019 and is serving a life sentence in a maximum-security prison.
Anne Milgram, head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), stated that Zambada’s arrest “hits at the heart of the cartel responsible for the majority of drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, that are killing Americans from coast to coast.”