El Chapo Pleads Not Guilty In US Federal Court

Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán pled not guilty in a U.S. federal court in New York City.  His attorneys had fought his extradition in part by citing discrimination against Mexicans. His court appearance came just one day after his extradition from Mexico and he is being held without bail.  Guzman, 59, arrived at Long Island’s MacArthur Airport Thursday night after being taken from prison in the city of Juarez, in the northern state of Chihuahua, where his Sinaloa cartel rules.

He is accused of running the world’s largest drug-trafficking organization.  There are 17 criminal charges against him, carrying a minimum sentence of life behind bars.  Guzman is accused of money laundering, drug trafficking, kidnapping and murder in several US cities, including Chicago, Miami and New York.  Charged in a total of six U.S. jurisdictions, Guzman will faced his first set of charges in Brooklyn on a combined indictment from New York and Florida.

While leading the Sinaloa cartel, Guzman is believed to have been running the world’s largest transnational cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine smuggling operation.  More than 100,000 people have been killed during a decade-long drug war in Mexico.  A U.S. attorney says the government is seeking a $14 billion forfeiture order as part of its prosecution of the notorious Mexican drug kingpin.

According to his indictment and court filings, Guzman grew and sold poppies for heroin as a young boy.  His drug trafficking career that began in the 1980s and he came to dominate Mexican smugglers by the speed with which he was able to move drugs into the United States.

After partnering with Colombian producers, they shared in profits of U.S. distribution markets, moving cocaine and other drugs through tunnels under the U.S. border as well as planes, yachts and even a submarine, employing a crew of violent hit men known as“sicarios” and corrupting Mexican officials.

The indictment charges Guzman with running the massive drug trafficking operation that laundered billions of dollars and oversaw murders and kidnappings.  Prosecutors agreed to not seek the death penalty as a condition of the extradition of Guzman, who’s the convicted leader of the Sinaloa cartel.

Guzman had maintained control and expanded his drug trafficking empire through two prison terms in Mexico.  He has escaped twice from a maximum security prison in Mexico, once in a laundry cart and a second time in 2015, through a mile-long tunnel dug into the shower in his cell.  He was captured a year ago, just six months after his last escape.  Mexican officials say a secret interview with US actor Sean Penn helped locate the world’s most wanted drug baron.  US officials have refused to say where El Chapo will be held while awaiting trial, but they vowed to prevent any further escapes.

US attorney for New York’s Eastern District, Robert Capers, told reporters the trial will likely be long and that more than 40 witnesses were ready to testify.  US prosecutors assured Mexican officials that El Chapo would not be executed in order to secure his extradition, Capers said. Mexico opposes capital punishment.  “Guzman and the Sinaloa cartel had a veritable army, ready to war with competitors and anyone Guzman deemed to be a traitor,” US prosecutors said. He was known to carry a gold-plated AK-47 rifle.