Federal judge orders Mexican drug lord “El Mayo” detained without bail

Accused Mexican drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia is too dangerous to peek out of his prison cell while he awaits trial on multiple drug trafficking charges, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said Friday.

Zambada, 76, a co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, pleaded not guilty to 17 charges related to running the notorious drug empire – and appeared for the first time in the same court where El Chapo was convicted in 2019. As the case progresses, he will also face the same judge who presided over Chapo's trial.

“He has made it his mission to evade capture. His release would guarantee his escape,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Francisco Navarro on Friday. “A prison cell in the United States is the only thing that will stop the defendant from committing further crimes.”

Brooklyn Federal Court Justice of the Peace James Cho ordered him 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 court document Thursday.

Navarro said: “He was one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, drug lord in the world… He is responsible for flooding the United States with fentanyl, cocaine and other drugs.”

Zambada controlled and may still control a “veritable army” of cartel members, Navarro said. “Assassinations, kidnappings, torture and bribery were all tools used by the defendant.”

The main charge against him, which carries the death penalty, carries a mandatory life sentence.

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, said El Chapo's son kidnapped Zambada and forced him onto the plane while he was handcuffed and with a black bag over his head.

His arrest led to an investigation in Mexico for treason, since under Mexican law, kidnapping a person and taking him or her to another country is also considered treason.

The US government had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the capture of Zambada. According to court records, he has been charged in US courts “no less than 16 times” over the past two decades.

Speaking to reporters in Spanish and English, Perez said Zambada was in good health and spirits and expected to take the case to trial. He did not elaborate on his previous comments about Zambada's arrest.

El Chapo was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 30 years after a spectacular trial in Brooklyn. The jury found that Chapo smuggled more than 150 tons of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana into the USA, making billions in profits and conspiring to commit murder.

Although Cho presided over the arraignment on Friday, District Judge Brian Cogan, who also presided over Chapo's trial, will now handle the case.

Federal prosecutors are requesting that the case be classified as a “complex” case because the alleged crimes span several decades and the mountains of documents and potential evidence in the case likely include classified information.