In a case crammed with intrigue, Joaquín Guzmán López, the son of the former Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to narcotics, money laundering and firearms charges, with his attorney saying his client has made no deal with US officials.
Guzmán López made a brief appearance in federal court in Chicago. Afterward, attorney Jeffrey Lichtman told reporters, “There is no agreement between Joaquín Guzmán and the government. Period.”
Ever since the stunning news that a plane carrying Guzmán López and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the cartel’s alleged co-founder, flew last Thursday from Mexico to El Paso, Texas, there’s been rampant speculation about what happened – and why.
Lichtman’s statement Tuesday raises new questions about why Guzmán López flew here if he has no cooperation agreement with American authorities.
Did Guzmán López intend to surrender, as the Mexican government said Monday, citing information from US authorities? If so, did he take Zambada along as a bonus for the US? Did Guzmán López and his henchmen serve up the ultimate betrayal by ambushing Zambada and tossing him into the aircraft, as an attorney for the latter said?
US authorities were notified on several occasions Guzmán López was considering surrendering, but it was not until that same day his intention was confirmed without prior notice, according to information from US officials shared with the Mexican government.
The federal government has made no official comment on the circumstances of the flight.
While Guzmán López – known as one of the “Chapitos,” or sons of El Chapo – is charged with several offenses, including one that could provide for the possibility of the death penalty, there is no formal allegation of abduction.
“He’s not being accused of kidnapping,” said Lichtman. “When the government accuses him, then I’ll take notice.”
Lichtman has been cleared to represent both Guzmán López and his brother, Ovidio Guzmán López, who also is facing federal charges. The brothers both have status hearings set for September 30.
Guzmán López, wearing an orange jumpsuit and ankle chains, informed the court he is receiving care for thyroid and high blood pressure problems.
He was indicted on the charges by a federal grand jury in Illinois, according to a statement last year from the US Justice Department.
The court appearance comes after Guzmán López, 38, and Zambada were arrested Thursday by US authorities in El Paso. They face several charges for allegedly leading the criminal operations of what is considered to be one of the world’s most powerful and deadly drug trafficking operations.
Zambada, 76, pleaded not guilty to all charges at his first federal court appearance Friday morning in El Paso and is being held without bond on seven federal criminal counts, including continuing criminal enterprise and money laundering. He is scheduled to appear in person in the same court for a status conference Thursday, according to court documents.
US law enforcement officials told CNN the arrest came after Guzmán López duped Zambada and orchestrated their arrest. Zambada thought the two were flying to northern Mexico to look at real estate, but instead, their small private plane landed north of the border, where US authorities were waiting on the tarmac, officials said.
However, Zambada’s attorney, in a phone conversation and a statement sent to CNN on Sunday, described the incident not as trickery but as a violent kidnapping.
“Joaquín Guzmán López forcibly kidnapped my client. He was ambushed, thrown to the ground, and handcuffed by six men in military uniforms and Joaquín. His legs were tied, and a black bag was placed over his head,” attorney Frank Pérez said in a statement.
“He was then thrown into the back of a pickup truck and taken to a landing strip. There, he was forced onto a plane, his legs tied to the seat by Joaquín, and brought to the US against his will. The only people on the plane were the pilot, Joaquín and my client.”
Mexico’s president has called on the United States to explain what exactly happened.
“The government of the United States has to give a complete report. It can’t be just general statements,” President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said last Friday. “There has to be transparency.”
In a news conference Monday, he said Mexico should be trusted.
“We are not going to hide anything. Nothing. There should be confidence in us that we do not establish complicit relationships with anyone in Mexico or abroad. And people should know that,” he said.
The cartel, one of the world’s most powerful narcotics trafficking organizations, is thought to be responsible for the trafficking of vast amounts of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl into the United States. US Drug Enforcement Administration chief Anne Milgram said the arrests strike “at the heart of the cartel that is responsible for the majority of drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, killing Americans from coast to coast.”
A law enforcement source familiar with the situation told CNN US officials were hesitant to brief Mexican counterparts in advance due to fears the operation could have been compromised. Details on the operation were also highly restricted within the US government until Zambada and Guzmán López were taken into custody, the source said.
A look at the cartel and its leadership
The Sinaloa cartel was founded in the late 1980s and led by El Chapo, who twice escaped from Mexican prisons before being detained by Mexican authorities in 2016.
The cartel has been blamed for having a key role in the drug war that plagued Mexico for years, leaving tens of thousands of people dead, as well as contributing to the ongoing high levels of violence across the country.
In the early 2010s, estimates indicated the cartel controlled roughly 40% to 60% of Mexico’s drug trade, earning as much as $3 billion annually, according to a Congressional Research Service report.
El Chapo was extradited to the US in 2017 and convicted of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, drug trafficking, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder. He is serving a life sentence in US federal prison.
Since then, experts believe the cartel has faced several challenges after breaking into factions – including some led by Zambada and Guzmán’s sons – and with the rise of rival cartels.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said both Zambada and Guzmán López had “eluded law enforcement for decades.”
Zambada was indicted by a northern Illinois grand jury in 2009, according to the US State Department, and faces various criminal charges. In 2021, the US raised the reward for information leading to his arrest to $15 million.
“Ismael Mario Zambada Garcia is the long-time leader of the Zambada Garcia faction of the Sinaloa Cartel,” according to the US State Department. “Zambada Garcia is unique in that he has spent his entire adult life as a major international drug trafficker, yet he has never spent a day in jail.”
Meanwhile, El Chapo’s sons are accused of having “repeatedly and consistently transported lethal amounts of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl,” the Justice Department said last year.
Zambada’s son, Vicente Zambada Niebla, admitted during testimony at Guzmán’s 2018 trial to passing along orders for murders and kidnappings. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2019 by a federal judge in Chicago. He began cooperating with the US government in 2011, prosecutors said in a May 2019 filing.
CNN’s Nicole Chavez, Rafael Romo, Emma Tucker, Ivon Valdés, Catherine E. Shoichet, Josh Campbell and Phil Gast contributed to this report.
