Son of Mexican drug lord 'El Chapo' pleads not guilty to drug trafficking in US federal court

By Darren Lyn

HOUSTON, US (AA) - A son of infamous Mexican drug kingpin “El Chapo” pleaded not guilty Tuesday to federal drug trafficking charges, according to media outlets.

Joaquin Guzman Lopez, 38, made his first appearance in a Chicago federal court in the state of Illinois. He is accused of overseeing the illegal trafficking of tens of thousands of pounds of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl into the US.

Guzman Lopez's attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, told reporters that his client could face the death penalty if convicted and that he currently has no plea agreement with the US government.

"I know that there's been a massive amount of rumors and things printed in the press," said Lichtman. "I don't know what's real. I don't know what's not real. But it shouldn't really surprise anybody that there's a story that seems to be changing every few minutes."

Guzman Lopez is scheduled to make his next court appearance on Sept. 30. He was arrested in a high-profile bust last Thursday in El Paso, Texas alongside Sinaloa cartel co-founder Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada.

Zambada, 76, formed the Sinaloa cartel with Guzman Lopez's father, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzman, who was extradited to the US in 2017 and is now serving a life sentence in a federal prison.

Guzman Lopez's younger brother, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, 34, was arrested last year with two dozen others as part of a worldwide crackdown targeting a global drug trafficking network run through the Sinaloa cartel.

Zambada made his first appearance in an El Paso federal court last Friday, according to court records. He pleaded not guilty to 12 drug trafficking charges levied against him from a 2012 federal indictment and is behind bars until his next hearing scheduled for Wednesday.