(Al Jazeera Media Network) Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a co-founder of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel, has pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking, murder and other charges in a New York court, months after his dramatic arrest and transfer into United States custody.
Zambada entered the plea to the 17 felony counts he faces, which include money laundering and weapons charges, at a hearing on Friday in Brooklyn, New York.
US Magistrate Judge James Cho ordered that Zambada, 76, be jailed pending trial.
Prosecutor Francisco Navarro called Zambada “one of the most, if not the most, powerful narcotics kingpins in the world.”
“A United States jail cell is the only thing that will prevent the defendant from committing further crimes and ensure his return to court,” he told the hearing.
Sought by law enforcement for more than two decades, Zambada has been in US custody since July 25, when he landed in a private plane at an airport outside El Paso, Texas, according to federal authorities.
He was in the company of another fugitive cartel leader, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, who is the son of Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
Guzman Lopez is awaiting trial on a separate indictment in Chicago. He pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges in a federal court in late July.
Questions have swirled around Zambada’s capture, which also spurred fears of more drug-related violence in Mexico and heightened tensions between the Mexican and US governments.
Last month, Zambada’s lawyer said Guzman Lopez and six men in military uniforms “forcibly kidnapped” his client near the Sinaloa state capital of Culiacan and flew him to the US against his will.
But the Guzman family lawyer has denied the kidnapping charge, instead calling it a voluntary surrender after extended negotiations.
