The US lawyer for El Chapo’s son rejects theory of ‘El Mayo’ kidnapping, further complicating case

A new chapter has been written in the saga of betrayals and intrigues featuring the top members of the Sinaloa Cartel. The lawyer for Joaquín Guzmán López, son of Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán, denied on Tuesday that his client kidnapped Ismael El Mayo Zambada to hand him over to the U.S. authorities, as had been widely speculated. Jeffrey Lichtman, the same man who represented El Chapo in the so-called “trial of the century” in 2018, reappeared in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, in Chicago, to take on the defense of one of the heirs of the drug boss. At this time he also ruled out that his client had negotiated his surrender with the American justice system. “There has never been an agreement with the government with Joaquín Guzmán López,” said Lichtman after Guzmán López’s first appearance before a judge in the United States.

The defense attorneys for both drug traffickers, who were arrested unexpectedly last Thursday in New Mexico, are going through a crucial week at the beginning of the judicial proceedings against their clients in the United States, and they have also been involved in a new exchange of statements to try to do well in the so-called media trial. Frank Pérez, Zambada’s lawyer, said last weekend that his client was betrayed and kidnapped by Guzmán López, also known as El Güero or El Júnior. Although in the hours following the arrest this theory about of an agreed surrender gained traction, the theory of a kidnapping gained strength this week following the testimonies that U.S. officials and agents gave under condition of anonymity to various media outlets.

Lichtman broke his silence to state the position of El Chapo’s son. He is not being accused of kidnapping, said the lawyer with a hint of irony. “When the government accuses him, then I’ll take notice,” he added in an effort to minimize Pérez’s statements. “When lawyers who are trying to score points with the media make accusations ... doesn’t move the ball forward.” The scandal is growing around the figure of El Mayo, who set foot in jail for the first time last week.

The most striking thing about the statements made by Guzmán López’s lawyer — who also represents Ovidio Guzmán, another son of El Chapo who was extradited to the United States last September — was that he denied the alleged pact to surrender, something that at this point was practically taken for granted based on the information shared by the Mexican government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the U.S. authorities. “We have already been informed that Guzmán López had talks with the United States government, that he wanted to surrender; that is what the United States government is maintaining,” said the Mexican president in his morning press conference. The change in the defense’s statements is part of the strategy to deal with the accusations inside and outside the court.

Dressed in an orange prison uniform and handcuffed, Guzmán López pleaded not guilty to a battery of charges that include weapons possession, organized crime, money laundering and trafficking of multiple substances, including fentanyl. That initial plea does not prevent him from reaching a deal with U.S. authorities at a later point in the judicial process. The judge ordered him to remain in prison.

El Güero’s name appears in the court file along with three of his brothers — Iván, Alfredo and Ovidio — who are at the head of the faction known as Los Chapitos, and with El Mayo, the partner with whom his father built a criminal empire that extends across almost 50 countries and to whom another faction of the Sinaloa Cartel anwers. Lichtman has already received most of the evidence that prosecutors began to gather from mid-2008 to date, according to a court document to which this newspaper has had access. A new hearing is scheduled for the end of September, unless there are extensions or unforeseen changes.

El Mayo also pleaded not guilty in a Texas court and waived his right to a preliminary hearing, according to official documents. He is expected to appear before the judge again on Thursday so that his legal team can receive an update on the status of the judicial process. Like El Chapo’s heirs, Zambada turned to an old acquaintance. Pérez was the lawyer for Vicente Zambada Niebla, aka Vicentillo, who has already been released from prison after collaborating with the U.S. justice system in the trial against Guzmán Loera. It is also expected that in the next few days it will be decided where El Mayo will face the charges against him; he has open cases in at least four jurisdictions in the United States.

Five days after the arrest, questions are mounting in Mexico about how the arrest actually took place and what U.S. security agencies know that has not yet been made public. In Mexico, the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) is carrying out its own investigation to try to clarify what happened on Mexican soil. The FGR delegate in Sonora told the media that one of the points being determined is whether the private plane in which Zambada and Guzmán López traveled departed from Hermosillo, the state capital. López Obrador promised to make the findings known. “We need to have more information and speak the truth,” said the outgoing president, whose successor Claudia Sheinbaum is due to be inaugurated on October 1.

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