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Son of Mexican drug lord El Chapo pleads not guilty in US court

US prosecutors lay out five-count indictment against Joaquin Guzman Lopez after arrest operation in Texas last week.

Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of convicted Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, has pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges in a United States court.

Guzman Lopez, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, stood in a Chicago courtroom on Tuesday with his feet shackled as federal prosecutors detailed a five-count indictment that also includes weapons charges.

US District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman ordered him detained pending trial. The judge did not set a trial date and scheduled the next court date in the case for September 30.

The hearing came just days after US authorities arrested Guzman Lopez and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a longtime member of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, in the El Paso, Texas area last week, according to the US Department of Justice.