Accused Mexican kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges Friday in the same New York courthouse where Sinaloa cartel co-founder Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was convicted five years ago.
Zambada entered pleas to 17 felony counts against him, including money laundering and weapons charges, during a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge James Cho in Brooklyn.
Cho ordered that Zambada, 76, remain jailed pending trial.
Prosecutor Francisco Navarro called Zambada “one of the most powerful drug kingpins in the world, if not the most.”
“A United States prison is the only thing that will deter the defendant from committing further crimes and ensure his return to court,” Navarro said during the hearing.
Defense attorney Frank Perez did not object to prosecutors’ request to send Zambada to jail.
Zambada, wearing a gray short-sleeved shirt, said nothing except answering “yes” or “no” to the judge’s questions through an interpreter.
Zambada was detained at a New Mexico airport on July 25 along with one of Guzman’s sons, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, in a major breakthrough for U.S. law enforcement.
He was then taken to El Paso, Texas, where he pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges in federal court.
US District Judge Kathleen Cardone transferred him to Brooklyn last week after the US Justice Department had asked that he face trial there first.
Zambada had to ride in a wheelchair for his first court appearance in El Paso, but walked himself to his apartment on Friday.
“He’s in very good health,” Perez told reporters after the hearing.
The Brooklyn case began in 2009 and involves charges related to the trafficking of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is fueling an epidemic in the United States.
Zambada is next scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 31.
“El Chapo” Guzman is serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison in Colorado. His son has pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges in Chicago.
A shootout this week in the western Mexican state of Sinaloa has raised fears that Zambada’s arrest could spark an inter-cartel war.
Twelve people have been killed in fighting since Monday, and on Thursday state authorities cancelled national day celebrations and closed schools in response to the escalating violence.
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