Today is
Sunday November 24, 2024
CHICAGO (AP) — JoaquÃn Guzmán López, a son of notorious drug kingpin “El Chapo,†pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges Tuesday, days after an astonishing capture in the U.S.
Guzmán López, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, stood with feet shackled as federal prosecutors in Chicago detailed a five-count indictment that also includes money laundering, conspiracy and weapons charges. He declined a Spanish interpreter and answered most of U.S. District Judge Sharon Coleman’s questions designed to assess his health and determine whether he understood the proceedings with a simple, “Yes, your honor.â€
Guzmán López and Ismael “El Mayo†Zambada, a longtime of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel were arrested by U.S. authorities in the El Paso, Texas-area last week, according to the Justice Department. Both men, who face multiple charges in the U.S., oversaw the trafficking of “tens of thousands of pounds of drugs into the United States, along with related violence,†according to the FBI.
Zambada has eluded U.S. authorities for years. He was thought to be more involved in day-to-day operations of the cartel than his better-known and flashier boss, Joaquin “El Chapo†Guzmán, who was sentenced to life in prison in the U.S. in 2019 and is the father of Guzmán López, 38.
In recent years, Guzmán’s sons have led a faction of the cartel known as the little Chapos, or “Chapitos,†that has been identified as a main exporter of fentanyl to the U.S. market. Last year, U.S. prosecutors unsealed sprawling indictments against more than two dozen members of the Sinaloa cartel, Guzmán López and his brothers, in a fentanyl-trafficking investigation.
At Tuesday’s brief hearing, security was tight, with cellphones, laptops and other electronics barred from the courtroom. Guzmán López remained standing, leaning into the microphone to answer the judge, often with his arms folded behind him.
Guzmán López remained jailed in Chicago and was due back in court on Sept. 30.
Zambada pleaded not guilty last week to various drug trafficking charges and was being held without bond. He’s due back in court later this week.
The men’s mysterious capture fueled theories about how federal authorities pulled it off and prompted Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to take the unusual step of issuing a public appeal to drug cartels not to fight each other.
Zambada’s attorney, Frank Perez, alleged his client was kidnapped by Guzmán López and brought to the U.S. aboard a private plane that landed near El Paso. Perez pushed back against claims that his client was tricked into flying into the country.
But Guzmán López’s attorney Jeffrey Lichtman, who has represented other family members, rejected those ideas without going into specifics.
“There’s been massive amount of rumors and things printed in the press. I don’t know what’s real. I don’t know what’s not real,” he said. “But it shouldn’t really surprise anybody that there’s a story that seems to be changing every few minutes, which means that much of what’s being leaked to the press is inaccurate.”
He added that there “is no cooperation with the government and there never has been.â€
The U.S. government had offered a reward of up to $15 million for leading to Zambada’s capture.
His detention follows arrests of other Sinaloa cartel figures, including one of his sons and another “El Chapo†son, Ovidio Guzmán López, who pleaded not guilty to drug-trafficking charges in Chicago last year. Zambada’s son pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court in San Diego in 2021 to being a leader in the Sinaloa cartel.
TYLER – The Salvation Army of Tyler Family Store has reopened its doors after a fire caused the store to temporarily close last month. According to our news partner KETK, the North Broadway store is open to shoppers Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Store officials said the June 14 fire caused around $100,000 worth of losses. The Tyler Fire Department said, a cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
SMITH COUNTY — A three-vehicle wreck involving two 18-wheelers and one dump truck is causing traffic delays near the Smith and Van Zandt County line. According to our news partner KETK, DPS Sergeant Adam Albritton said at around 12:30 p.m., a dump truck had made a full stop on I-20 west near mile marker 546 due to traffic from a previous wreck. An 18-wheeler carrying chicken waste and byproducts attempted to slow down and make a stop but crashed into the dump truck and hit the guard rail. Another 18-wheeler attempted to stop, but reportedly failed due to the chicken waste and grease and crashed into the dump truck.
Hazmat crews are at the scene cleaning up the chicken waste. Traffic is being rerouted to a weigh station. Albritton said no injuries have been reported at this time. Officials do not know when roads will be cleared and urge drivers to use caution.
TYLER — The Tyler Police Department said one person has been cited in connection to a fatal pedestrian crash in Tyler on July 9. According to our news partner KETK, the unnamed person was cited with failure to yield the right of way, a Class C misdemeanor, in connection to the death of Sandra Abrego. Tyler PD did not release the identity of the person cited and did not comment if any additional charges would be added.
Sometimes you may want to use your email only once. Then you need David Rancken’s App Of The Day. It’s called Temp Mail. You can find Temp Mail in the app stores below.
HOUSTON (THE TEXAS TRIBUNE) — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, will each travel to Houston this week to pay their respects to former U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, according to statements from the White House.
Jackson Lee died at age 74 on July 19 amid a battle with pancreatic cancer. The Houston Democrat was one of the longest serving members of Texas’ congressional delegation, known as a staunch advocate for progressive causes.
Harris called Jackson Lee a “dear friend†in a statement following the Congresswoman’s passing and lauded her work on disaster relief following Hurricane Harvey, and as an advocate for women’s rights. Harris and Jackson Lee were both members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, a historically Black sorority, and worked together on legislation, including the law that made Juneteenth a national holiday.
“Sheila Jackson Lee was, first and foremost, a leader dedicated to serving the people of her beloved city,†Harris said in a statement. “No task was too small as long as it was the right thing to do.â€
Biden and Harris’ trips to Houston are not expected to overlap. Biden will travel to Houston on Monday and is expected to visit Houston City Hall, where Jackson Lee is lying in state.
Harris will be in Houston on Wednesday to deliver remarks at a political event, according to a Sunday evening press release. And she will deliver a eulogy at Jackson Lee’s homegoing service on the following day. The Celebration of Life Service on Thursday will take place at Fallbrook Church and will be livestreamed, according to a schedule of events shared by Jackson Lee’s family.
The trip will mark Harris’ third visit to Texas in the last month. On July 10, Harris traveled to Dallas where she spoke to about 20,000 members of Alpha Kappa Alpha at their annual convention.
Last week, Harris traveled to Houston and received a briefing on the ongoing recovery efforts following Hurricane Beryl. The following day, she delivered a keynote address at the American Federation of Teachers’ national convention in Houston.
Biden was scheduled to visit Texas on July 15 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That trip was postponed after an attempted assassination on former U.S. President Donald Trump and has been rescheduled for Monday. The president will travel to Houston after delivering his speech at the Lyndon B. Johnson presidential library.
Biden withdrew from the presidential race on July 21 and quickly endorsed Harris, urging Democrats to rally around the vice president to defeat Trump, the Republican challenger.
The article was originally posted in The Texas Tribune
LINDALE – The Lindale Police Department reported there was a multi-vehicle crash, involving an 18-wheeler. The wreck occurred around 3:30 p.m. Sunday, on Interstate-20 east near Hideway Lake. Because the 18-wheeler jackknifed on the interstate, traffic was at a standstill for several hours. According to our news partner KETK, DPS troopers reported no injuries or fatalities. Traffic started getting back to normal around 9 p.m.
TYLER – The Northeast Texas Public Health District, NET Heath, is hosting several back-to-school health and vaccination clinics until Aug. 13. The NET Immunizations Coalition is helping East Texas students by giving them backpacks with school supplies, vaccinations, blood pressure checks and eye exams.
The following clinics will be held across East Texas in the coming weeks:
Thursday, Aug. 1
Tyler ISD School is Cool at the W.T. Brookshire Conference Center from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Read the rest of this entry »
HOUSTON (AP) — The lawyer of a powerful Mexican drug cartel leader who is now in U.S. custody pushed back Sunday against claims that his client was tricked into flying into the country, saying he was “forcibly kidnapped†by the son of JoaquÃn “El Chapo†Guzmán.
Ismael “El Mayo†Zambada had eluded authorities for decades and had never set foot in prison until a plane carrying him and JoaquÃn Guzmán López, a son of notorious drug kingpin “El Chapo,†landed at an airport in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, near El Paso, Texas, on Thursday. Both men, who face various U.S. drug charges, were arrested and remain jailed.
Frank Perez, Zambada’s attorney, said his client did not end up at the New Mexico airport of his own free will.
“My client neither surrendered nor negotiated any terms with the U.S. government,†Perez said in a statement. “JoaquÃn Guzmán López forcibly kidnapped my client. He was ambushed, thrown to the ground, and handcuffed by six men in military uniforms and Joaquin. His legs were tied, and a black bag was placed over his head.†Perez went on to say that Zambada, 76, was thrown in the back of a pickup truck, forced onto a plane and tied to the seat by Guzmán López.
Known as an astute operator skilled at corrupting officials, Zambada has a reputation for being able to negotiate with everyone, including rivals. He is charged in a number of U.S. cases, 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€
Removing him from the criminal landscape could set off a turbulent internal war for control over the cartel, as has occurred with the arrest or killings of other kingpins. Experts say it could also open the door for a more violent, younger generation of Sinaloa traffickers to move up.
Perez declined to offer much more comment beyond his Sunday statement, saying only that his client had been traveling with a light security detail and was set up after being called to a meeting with Guzmán López.
Perez’s comments were first reported by the Los Angeles Times.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Justice Department did not immediately return an email seeking comment Sunday on Perez’s claims. Court records did not list an attorney for Guzmán López, whose father is serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison.
According to a U.S. law enforcement official familiar with the matter, Zambada was duped into flying into the U.S.
The cartel leader got on an airplane believing he was going somewhere else, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. The official did not provide details such as who persuaded Zambada to get on the plane or where exactly he thought he was going.
Zambada appeared in federal court in El Paso on Friday morning, where a judge read the charges against him and informed him of his rights. He is being held without bond and has pleaded not guilty to various drug trafficking charges, court records show. His next court hearing is scheduled for Thursday, Perez said.
___
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s law banning most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy went into effect Monday, a drastic change that enrages — but doesn’t surprise — Sarah Traxler.
When Traxler, an OB-GYN based in Minnesota and the chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood North Central States, went to high school in a conservative Louisiana town in the 1990s, she saw abortion rights losing ground even then, decades before the U.S. Supreme Court and Iowa’s high court would say there isn’t a constitutional right to abortion.
“The protections of Roe have just been chipped away at slowly through time,†she told The Associated Press.
At 8 a.m. Monday in Iowa, the state will join more than a dozen others where abortion access has been sharply curbed in the roughly two years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
It’s an outcome Iowa’s abortion providers have been fighting but still prepared for, shoring up abortion access in neighboring states and drawing on the lessons learned where bans went into effect more swiftly.
States with restrictive laws are “glimpses of our future,†Traxler said. Even with the ability to prepare, she told reporters Friday, “this transition is devastating and tragic for the people of Iowa.”
Iowa’s Republican-controlled Legislature approved the law last year, but a judge blocked it from being enforced shortly after the measure went into effect because of a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, Planned Parenthood and the Emma Goldman Clinic in Iowa City.
The Iowa Supreme Court reiterated in June that there is no constitutional right to an abortion in the state and ordered the hold to be lifted. The district court judge’s July 22 orders set July 29 as the first day of enforcement.
The law prohibits abortions after cardiac activity can be detected, which is roughly at six weeks of pregnancy and before many know they are pregnant. There are limited exceptions in cases of rape, incest, fetal abnormality or when the life of the mother is in danger. Previously, abortion in Iowa was legal up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found 44% of the 3,761 total abortions in Iowa in 2021 occurred at or before six weeks. Only six abortions were at the 21-week mark or later.
Alex Sharp, senior health center manager who runs the Planned Parenthood abortion clinic closest to Des Moines, said staff members overbooked schedules this week, moving up appointments for people seeking abortions who likely would be past the legal limit as of Monday.
Still, that wasn’t an option for everyone. Almost a third of the people Sharp spoke to said they couldn’t get off work or find daycare before next week. Those patients could work with staff members to find appointments out of state, she said.
Across the country, the status of abortion has changed constantly since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, with trigger laws immediately going into effect, states passing new restrictions or expansions of access and court battles putting those on hold.
In states with restrictions, the main abortion options are getting pills via telehealth or underground networks and traveling, vastly driving up demand in states with more access.
The Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights, projected last month that about 20,000 abortions were performed in Kansas in 2023, or 152% more than in 2020. Near Iowa, Illinois saw a 71% increase and Minnesota went up 49%. Providers there expect to see more influx after Monday.
When the first restrictive laws went into effect, like in Texas, providers had to essentially “figure it out as we went,†said Amy Hagstrom Miller, founder of Whole Woman’s Health. And even though providers across the country have learned how to work within the limits, “I don’t ever want us to have this seem normal.”
Hagstrom Miller has been talking with leaders at the independent Emma Goldman Clinic about accepting referrals at the Whole Woman’s Health clinic in Minnesota, where 20% of abortion appointments go to out-of-state travelers, she said. That percentage is expected to increase under Iowa’s new law.
The region’s Planned Parenthood affiliate also has been making investments for over a year to prepare for Monday. A location added last year in Mankato, Minnesota, is only an hour’s drive from Iowa and recently began providing medication abortion. Just over the state line in Omaha, Nebraska, a facility is quadrupling exam rooms and adding staff.
Maggie DeWitte, who has worked for decades to advocate against abortion access in Iowa, said it’s to be expected after Dobbs that while some states work to regulate or even eliminate abortion, others are going to be less restrictive.
“We certainly hope that women would not travel out of state, but we know that that is going to happen,†she said. “So that just has to continue our education efforts to those women to let them know that there are other options out there.â€
Many people don’t know the law was passed or is going into effect, making those conservations even more sensitive. Staff members have had to tell patients they are too far along and it’s too late unless they travel and miss more work, Planned Parenthood’s Sharp said.
It’s been difficult, she said, even though clinics are as ready as they can be for Monday.
“We are prepared operationally for it,†Sharp said, “but not emotionally or mentally for it, at all.â€
RUSK COUNTY – NET RMA, The North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority announced a $15 million infrastructure project that will soon begin to revitalize the Henderson Overton Branch rail line. According to our news partner KETK, this project was financed by an $8.48 million federal grant. This grant was then matched by investments from private partners. Hundreds of job are expected to be created by this project.
Highlights of this rail line upgrade include:
Rebuilding transload zones in Overton and Henderson to support increased industrial activity.
Expanding track splits to accommodate more rail traffic.
Upgrading the switch to the Union Pacific mainline, which has not been modernized in over a century.
Glenn Green, Executive Director of NET RMA said, “This $15 million project is a direct result of NET RMA’s commitment to fostering economic development in East Texas rural communities. By investing in this rail line, we are not just building infrastructure but we are also building a better future for Rusk County and the surrounding areas.â€
EAST TEXAS – FEMA has opened disaster recovery centers for those affected by severe weather April 26 to June 5. In Anderson County, the center is located at the Anderson County Courthouse Annex at 703 N. Mallard St. suite 103 and 103a. In Panola County, the center is at the Carthage Fire Department Training Building located at 808 W. Panola Street in Carthage.
According to our news partner KETK, both locations will be open daily 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. FEMA employees are available at each center to help any affected individuals who need to apply for storm damage assistance from Hurricane Beryl or any other recent storm. Anyone affected can also apply through FEMA online. To locate your nearest disaster recovery center click here.
MARSHALL – The Marshall Police Department said that two people were arrested Thursday after a driver-by shooting. According to our news partner KETK, operators received a call from someone who said that they were shot at late Thursday night on East Bowie Street, near Albert Street intersection. When police arrived at the scene, they found no one was injured.
The two identified suspects in the shooting are, 18-year-old Abdiel Vences and Jordan Hernandez, 17. Both are in the Harrison County Jail. Vences is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, engaging in organized criminal activity, failure to identify/giving false/fictitious information and possession of marijuana .
TYLER – Smith County District Clerk Penny Clarkston was arrested for contempt of court for not handing over information related to a high profile case. According to our news partner KETK, Court documents said that the district clerk was given several chances over the last two months to hand over information to the district court pertaining to the William Davis capital murder case. Davis was found guilty and sentenced to death in October 2021 after accusations that he intentionally blew air in the arterial lines of patients at a local hospital where four patients were killed and several injured.The case has recently reentered the spotlight with accusations that Davis’ defense team was harassing jurors in April.
Read the rest of this entry »
WASHINGTON (AP) — A powerful Mexican drug cartel leader who eluded authorities for decades was duped into flying into the U.S., where he was arrested alongside a son of JoaquÃn “El Chapo†Guzmán, according to a U.S. law enforcement official familiar with the matter.
Ismael “El Mayo†Zambada got on an airplane to the U.S. believing he was going somewhere else, said the official, who spoke on the condition on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. The official did not provide additional details, including who persuaded Zambada to get on the plane or where exactly he thought he was going.
Upon arriving in the El Paso area, Zambada and JoaquÃn Guzmán López, a son of notorious drug kingpin “El Chapo,†who was sentenced to life in a U.S. prison in 2019, were immediately taken into custody by U.S. authorities, officials said.
Zambada, 76, appeared in federal court in El Paso on Friday morning, where a judge read the charges and informed Zambada of his rights. Zambada, who is being held without bond, has entered a plea of not guilty to slew of drug trafficking charges, court records show. His next court hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
Frank Perez, a lawyer listed for Zambada, said in a message to AP that his client “did not come to the U.S. voluntarily.â€
Zambada, one of the most powerful drug lords in the world, has been a key target for the U.S. government for years in its bid to take down leaders of the Sinaloa cartel that’s responsible for trafficking huge sums of drugs across the border. U.S. authorities had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to his capture.
His arrest “strikes at the heart of the cartel that is responsible for the majority of drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, killing Americans from coast to coast,†said U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration chief Anne Milgram.
“Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Justice Department will not rest until every single cartel leader, member, and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable,†Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Thursday.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Friday that Mexico was still awaiting details about the arrests and was not involved in the operation. Although he hailed the arrests, he suggested others could step in to fill the vacuum. That’s why his administration has focused on addressing the root causes of drug use and the associated violence, he said.
Mexican Security Secretary Rosa Icela RodrÃguez said the plane took off with only the pilot from the airport in Hermosillo, Mexico. Tracking service FlightAware showed the plane stopped transmitting its altitude and speed for about 30 minutes while it was over the mountains of northern Mexico before resuming its course to the U.S. border.
“It is a fact that one person went out from here, three people arrived there,” she said.
Zambada is charged in a number of U.S. cases, 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€
One of the longest-surviving capos in Mexico, Zambada was considered the cartel’s strategist, more involved in day-to-day operations than his flashier and better-known boss, “El Chapo.”
Zambada is an old-fashioned capo in an era of younger kingpins known for their flamboyant lifestyles of club-hopping and brutal tactics of beheading, dismembering and even skinning their rivals. While Zambada has fought those who challenged him, he is known for concentrating on the business side of trafficking and avoiding gruesome cartel violence that would draw attention.
In an April 2010 interview with the Mexican magazine Proceso, he acknowledged that he lived in fear of going to prison and would contemplate suicide rather than be captured.
“I’m terrified of being incarcerated,†Zambada said. “I’d like to think that, yes, I would kill myself.â€
The interview was surprising for a kingpin known for keeping his head down, but he gave strict instructions on where and when the encounter would take place, and the article gave no hint of his whereabouts.
Zambada reputedly won the loyalty of locals in his home state of Sinaloa and neighboring Durango through his largess, sponsoring local farmers and distributing money and beer in his birthplace of El Alamo.
Although little is known about Zambada’s early life, he is believed to have gotten his start as an enforcer in the 1970s. By the early 1990s, he was a major player in the Juarez cartel, transporting tons of cocaine and marijuana.
Zambada started gaining the trust of Colombian traffickers, allegiances that helped him come out on top in the cartel world of ever-shifting alliances. Eventually he became so powerful that he broke off from the Juarez cartel, but still managed to keep strong ties with the gang and avoided a turf war. He also developed a partnership with “El Chapo†Guzman that would take him to the top of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Zambada’s detention follows some important arrests of other Sinaloa cartel figures, including one of his sons and another son of “El Chapo†Guzmán, Ovidio Guzmán López.
Ovidio Guzmán López was arrested and extradited to the U.S. last year. He pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges in Chicago in September. The Bureau of Prisons inmate locator showed Ovidio Guzmán López was released Tuesday, but RodrÃguez said U.S. authorities informed Mexico he was not freed but just had his custody changed.
In 2021, Zambada’s son pleaded guilty in federal court in San Diego to being a leader in the Sinaloa cartel.
In recent years, Guzman’s sons have led a faction of the cartel known as the little Chapos, or “Chapitos,†that has been identified as a main exporter of fentanyl to the U.S. market. Their security chief was arrested by Mexican authorities in November.