Family members of drug lord El Chapo enter US, Mexican officials say
Several family members of the infamous drug lord "El Chapo" have entered the United States as part of negotiations over one of his sons' trafficking charges, Mexico's security secretary said.
Ovidio Guzmán López, the son of former Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán, was considered one of the leaders of the cartel and was extradited to the United States in 2023 to face federal charges that he and his brothers – known as "Los Chapitos" – made hundreds of millions of dollars by flooding the country with fentanyl.
"It's evident that his family is going to the United States because of the negotiation or opportunity the Justice Department has given him," Omar García Harfuch, Mexico's secretary of security and civilian safety, told Mexican radio network Radio Fórmula, when asked about reports that 17 family members had left Mexico.
He said the family members who entered the United States were not wanted by Mexican authorities.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo told reporters she was caught off guard by the news, and has asked the prosecutor's office to ask the U.S. Department of Justice for more information.
Court records show Guzmán López, also known as "El Ratón," is set to appear in federal court in July to enter a change of plea. He previously pleaded not guilty. The records do not include details about a possible plea agreement.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph D. Fitzpatrick, for the Northern District of Illinois, where the case is being prosecuted, declined to comment to Paste BN on the entry of family members and the terms of Guzmán López's plea.
Jeffrey Lichtman, an attorney representing Guzmán López, told Reuters earlier in May "we have no completed agreement yet but hope to in the future."Lichtman and another attorney listed for Guzmán López did not immediately respond to Paste BN's request for comment on May 14.
The sons of Joaquin"El Chapo" Guzmán are credited by U.S. authorities with rebuilding their father's international drug empire since his 2017 extradition and 2019 incarceration.
Guzmán López was first arrested in Mexico in 2019 but released after cartel members attacked civilians in Culiacán. He was arrested again in 2023 in an operation that led to 30 more deaths.
Contributing: Kathryn Palmer, Paste BN; Karol Suárez and Beth Warren, Louisville Courier Journal; Reuters