Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a former leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel facing drug trafficking charges in a U.S. court, appeared for the first time Friday before the judge presiding over his case.
Zambada, 76, appeared in Brooklyn federal court before District Judge Brian Cogan, who sentenced another cartel boss, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, to life in prison after being found guilty of drug trafficking charges in 2019. .
Prosecutors allege that Zambada and Guzmán founded the Sinaloa cartel, which became a huge narcotics manufacturer and smuggler that brought large quantities of drugs into the United States. Zambada has pleaded not guilty.
Zambada, who had long been wanted by U.S. authorities, was detained in July after arriving on a private plane at a Texas airport with Guzmán’s son, Joaquín Guzmán López, U.S. authorities said. Guzmán López faces drug trafficking charges in Chicago and has also pleaded not guilty.
Since Zambada and Guzmán López were detained in the United Statesclashes have occurred between rival factions of the cartel in the state of Sinaloa. This week, a building that housed a local newspaper in the capital of Sinaloa, Culiacán, was shot. The newspaper said no one was injured.
On the other hand, US authorities announced charges on Thursday against a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder who they accuse of running a drug trafficking network from Mexico allegedly with the protection of the Sinaloa cartel.
During Friday’s hearing, prosecutors told the judge that some of the evidence in the case against Zambada is confidential and that his defense attorneys will need authorization to access it, according to the Eastern District of New York prosecutor’s office.
The judge set Zambada’s next appearance for January 15.
This week in the same court, Cogan sentenced Genaro García Luna, Mexico’s former Secretary of Public Security, to more than 38 years in prison for accepting millions of dollars in bribes to protect the Sinaloa cartel.
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