CHICAGO, July 31, (AP): Joaquín Guzmán López, a son of notorious drug kingpin "El Chapo,” pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges Tuesday, days after an astonishing capture in the US
Guzmán López, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, stood with feet shackled as federal prosecutors in Chicago detailed a five-count indictment that also includes money laundering, conspiracy and weapons charges. He declined a Spanish interpreter and answered most of US District Judge Sharon Coleman's questions designed to assess his health and determine whether he understood the proceedings with a simple, "Yes, your honor.”
Guzmán López and Ismael "El Mayo” Zambada, a longtime of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel were arrested by US authorities in the El Paso, Texas-area last week, according to the Justice Department. Both men, who face multiple charges in the US, oversaw the trafficking of "tens of thousands of pounds of drugs into the United States, along with related violence,” according to the FBI.
Zambada has eluded US authorities for years. He was thought to be more involved in day-to-day operations of the cartel than his better-known and flashier boss, Joaquin "El Chapo” Guzmán, who was sentenced to life in prison in the US in 2019 and is the father of Guzmán López, 38.
In recent years, Guzmán's sons have led a faction of the cartel known as the little Chapos, or "Chapitos,” that has been identified as a main exporter of fentanyl to the U.S. market. Last year, US prosecutors unsealed sprawling indictments against more than two dozen members of the Sinaloa cartel, Guzmán López and his brothers, in a fentanyl-trafficking investigation.
At Tuesday's brief hearing, security was tight, with cellphones, laptops and other electronics barred from the courtroom. Guzmán López remained standing, leaning into the microphone to answer the judge, often with his arms folded behind him.
Guzmán López remained jailed in Chicago and was due back in court on Sept 30.