Federal judge orders Mexican drug lord “El Mayo” held without bail
Accused Mexican drug kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia is too dangerous to see the outside of a jail cell as he awaits trial for multiple narco-trafficking charges, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said Friday.
Zambada, 76, who co-founded the Sinaloa cartel, pleaded not guilty to 17 counts related to running the notorious drug empire — making his first appearance in the same courthouse where El Chapo was convicted in 2019. As the case progresses, he will also face the same judge that oversaw Chapo’s trial.
“He has made it his business to evade capture. His release would guarantee his flight,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Francisco Navarro said Friday. “A United States jail cell is the only thing that will prevent the defendant from committing further crimes.”
Brooklyn Federal Court Magistrate Judge James Cho ordered he be held without bail.
He and Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman “formed a partnership that led to the transformation of the Sinaloa Cartel into one of the largest drug trafficking organizations in the world,” prosecutors wrote in a Thursday court filing.
Said Navarro, “He was one of the most, if not the most powerful narcotics kingpins in the world…. He’s responsible for flooding the U.S. with fentanyl, cocaine and other drugs.”
Zambada controlled, and may still control, a “veritable army” of cartel members, Navarro said. “Assassinations, kidnapping, torture and bribery have all been tools of the trade for the defendant.”
The top charge against him, which is death-penalty eligible, carries a mandatory term of life in prison.
Zambada was arrested after he was lured onto a private plane with Joaquin Guzman Lopez, one of El Chapo’s sons, and flown to El Paso on July 25. Zambada’s lawyer, Frank Perez, has said that El Chapo’s son kidnapped Zambada and forced him onto the plane, bound with a black bag over his head.
His capture has lead to a treason investigation in Mexico, since under Mexican law, treason includes kidnapping someone and shipping them to another country.
The U.S. government was offering a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to Zambada’s capture. He has been indicted U.S. courts “no fewer than 16 times over the past two decades,” according to court filings.
Speaking to reporters in Spanish and English, Perez said Zambada was in good health and spirits, and expects to take the case to trial. He didn’t comment further about his earlier remarks on Zambada’s arrest.
El Chapo was convicted and sentenced to life plus 30 years, after a blockbuster trial in Brooklyn. The jury found Chapo trafficked more than 150 tons of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana into the U.S. while generating billions in profit and conspiring to commit murder.
Though Cho presided over his arraignment Friday, District Judge Brian Cogan, who oversaw Chapo’s trial, will handle the case going forward.
Federal prosecutors are requesting the case be designated a “complex” prosecution, since the alleged crimes span several decades and the mountains of documents and potential evidence in the case will likely include classified material.
