FILE - This image provided by the U.S. Department of State shows Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, a historic leader of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel. Zambada, who was taken into U.S. custody last week, made his second appearance in federal court in Texas on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (U.S. Department of State via AP)
Frank Perez, lead counsel for Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, exits the Albert Armendariz Sr. Federal Courthouse in El Paso, Texas after a status conference for his client on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. Zambada, a powerful Mexican drug cartel leader on Thursday made his second appearance in federal court in Texas after being taken into U.S. custody last week. (Omar Ornelas/The El Paso Times via AP)
FILE - This image provided by the U.S. Department of State shows Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, a historic leader of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel. Zambada, who was taken into U.S. custody last week, made his second appearance in federal court in Texas on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (U.S. Department of State via AP)
Frank Perez, lead counsel for Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, exits the Albert Armendariz Sr. Federal Courthouse in El Paso, Texas after a status conference for his client on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. Zambada, a powerful Mexican drug cartel leader on Thursday made his second appearance in federal court in Texas after being taken into U.S. custody last week. (Omar Ornelas/The El Paso Times via AP)
EL PASO, Texas (AP) — A powerful Mexican drug cartel leader on Thursday made his second appearance in federal court in Texas after being taken into U.S. custody last week.
Ismael “El Mayo†Zambada, 76, used a wheelchair for the hearing before U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone in El Paso. Zambada, the longtime leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, eluded authorities for decades until a plane carrying him and JoaquÃn Guzmán López, a son of notorious drug kingpin JoaquÃn “El Chapo†Guzmán," landed at an airport near El Paso on July 25. Both men . They are charged in the U.S. with various drug crimes.
Discussions during the short hearing Thursday included whether Zambada would be tried with co-defendants or separately. He is being held without bond and pleaded not guilty during a short hearing last week, where he also used a wheelchair.
His next hearing date was set for Sept. 9. His attorneys declined comment after Thursday's hearing.
One of his attorneys, Frank Perez, previously has alleged his client was kidnapped by Guzmán López and brought to the U.S. aboard a private plane. Tuesday to drug trafficking and other charges in federal court in Chicago.
Zambada was thought to be more involved in day-to-day operations of the cartel than his better-known and flashier boss, “El Chapo,†who was in the U.S. in 2019.
Zambada is charged , including in New York and California. Prosecutors brought a new indictment against him in New York in February, describing him as the “principal leader of the criminal enterprise responsible for importing enormous quantities of narcotics into the United States.â€
