With the circumstances of his capture still unclear, Sinaloa cartel co-founder Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada appeared in a Texas court Thursday. The 76-year-old Mexican citizen pleaded not guilty to all federal charges against him last week and is being held without bond. Reuters reports that Zambada was in a wheelchair and wore a navy sweatshirt that read "carpe diem"—"seize the day"—during Thursday's brief hearing in El Paso. US District Judge Kathleen Cardone said the next status conference hearing will be on Sept. 9.
Zambada faces charges in multiple federal jurisdictions, including New York, where prosecutors described him in a February indictment as the "principal leader of the criminal enterprise responsible for importing enormous quantities of narcotics into the United States," the AP reports.
- On Sunday, a lawyer for Zambada said his client had been kidnapped in Mexico and forced onto a plane after an ambush orchestrated by Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of fellow cartel co-founder "El Chapo." Guzman López pleaded not guilty to federal charges in Chicago on Tuesday. After Thursday's hearing, Zambada's lawyers declined to speak to reporters.
- The New York Times describes the alleged abduction as a "betrayal worthy of a narco thriller." American officials deny that there was a deal with Guzmán López, though delivering Zambada to US authorities could lead to favorable treatment for him and a brother already in US custody.
- Sources tell the Los Angeles Times that there is "growing evidence" that Guzmán López arranged the abduction. The sources say Guzmán López invited Zambada to a meeting and took advantage of an "unwritten code among drug traffickers" that an "ambush at a parlay" is off-limits. The Chapitos played him," one law enforcement source says. "Mayo was the last of a breed. He had a code. The kids are pit vipers."
- Former federal prosecutors tell the Los Angeles Times that unless there is solid proof that Guzmán López was working with US authorities, Zambada won't be able to successfully argue that the US extradition treaty with Mexico was violated. Because Zambada was apparently "hand-delivered by another criminal" instead of extradited, prosecutors have the option of pursuing the death penalty, the Times notes.
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