Conspiracy to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine, 500 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and 1,000 Kilograms or More of Marijuana, Intending and Knowing that such substances will be Unlawfully Imported into the United States (
Title 21 U.S.C. §§ 960(b)(1)(B)(ii), 960(b)(H), and 960(b)(1)(G))
Ovidio Guzmán López (born 29 March 1990) is a Mexican former drug lord and high-ranking member of the
Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal group based in the state of
Sinaloa. He is the son of another drug lord
Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, once considered Mexico's most-wanted drug lord and the world's most-wanted criminal. Guzmán López was suspected of being a leader within a Sinaloa Cartel faction often referred to as Los Chapitos, Los Menores, and/or Los Juniors.[2]
Guzmán López was born 29 March 1990 and is a son of
Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán with his second wife.[6][7][8][9] He was raised in
Mexico City and spent four years of his education at a school run by the
Legionaries of Christ. This biography states that Guzmán López's mother took him out of the school when the families of his classmates excluded him from a school trip.[10]
A U.S. grand jury indictment alleges Guzmán López has been involved in his father's
drug trafficking business since 2008, when he was a teenager.[11][12]
It is widely reported that Guzmán López took on a prominent role of the
Sinaloa Cartel after his father's arrest.[15][16] In 2019, the
Associated Press reported that he leads the cartel along with his brothers Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, Jesús Alfredo Guzmán, and
Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada.[1]
On 12 December 2018, the indictment was unsealed for the limited purpose of disclosure in an
extradition proceeding pursuant to the
Jencks Act.[17] Judge
Rudolph Contreras ordered the full unsealing of the indictment on 13 February 2019.[18]
On 17 October 2019, members of the
National Guard briefly arrested Ovidio Guzmán López in
Culiacán, Sinaloa, setting off
several gun battles in the city.[19][15][20] Heavily armed[21][22] cartel gunmen (numbering over 700) threatened mass civilian deaths,[23][24] including an attack to the apartment complex housing the relatives of the local military personnel.[25][26][27] Hours later, Ovidio Guzmán was freed,[28] with
PresidentAndrés Manuel López Obrador saying he supported the decision in order to "prevent more bloodshed".[29][30][31]
On 8 May 2020, Santiago Nieto, head of Mexico's
Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF), confirmed that the Government of Mexico froze Ovidio Guzmán's assets, stating, "We have frozen the accounts of Ovidio and of 330 people linked to the cartel and have filed a complaint with the Prosecutor's Office. We have also found irregularities."[32][33]
2023 recapture
On 5 January 2023, the authorities arrested Guzmán López in the Jesús María district of
Culiacán.[34][35] According to eyewitness accounts, Guzmán López had a family party the evening before he was arrested. The military executed a
pre-dawn raid on Guzmán López's residence that used a helicopter and convoy of ground vehicles and apprehended him within 10 hours of entry.[36]
Reports of his arrest were later confirmed by Defense Secretary
Luis Cresencio Sandoval, who stated that personnel from the Army, National Guard, Secretariat of National Defense and Secretariat of the Navy had captured him and also managed to successfully transport him to Mexico City, where he was then taken to offices of the Attorney General's organized crime special prosecutor.[37][2]
In a press conference, Foreign Secretary
Marcelo Ebrard confirmed that there was an extradition request for Guzmán López to face trial in the United States, but Ebrard noted that he was also facing criminal charges in Mexico.[2] The day after his arrest, a federal judge placed Guzmán López under a 60-day preventive detention to allow U.S. authorities to formally petition for his extradition.
Following the arrest, the U.S. Consulate in
Hermosillo shared that it had received reports of gunfire, roadblocks, and fires throughout the cities of
Culiacán,
Los Mochis, and
Guasave. The Consulate reiterated the
United States Department of State's highest level of travel advisory cautioning against travel to Sinaloa.[40] Sinaloa Governor
Rubén Rocha Moya called for the public to shelter in place.[41]
Looting was reported in parts of Culiacán, and numerous businesses and banks announced temporary closures across the state.[47] Journalists in the area reported multiple
carjackings and demands for car keys.[43]
Ten soldiers, 19 gang members, and one police officer were killed during the unrest.[48][49][50][51] Among the victims were an infantry colonel and his four escorts, who were ambushed and killed by cartel members in
Escuinapa, Sinaloa.[52]
A report issued by the
Secretariat of National Defense put the forces used in the operation at 3,586 soldiers.[53][54] The Secretariat also claimed that in the course of the operation "four
.50 caliberBarrett rifles, six 50 caliber machine guns, 26 long arms, 2 handguns, magazines, cartridges, various tactical equipment and 13 operational vehicles" were seized.[54]
Post-recapture
Following Guzmán López's capture, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control applied sanctions pursuant to
Executive Order14059 against individuals and corporations of Sinaloa Cartel's networks supplying
drug precursors for illicit manufacture of
methamphetamine and
fentanyl in so-called super-laboratories. These are defined by OFAC as "large-scale drug laboratories that produce 10 or more pounds of an illicit drug per production cycle". The targets included Luis Gerardo Flores Madrid, said to be a subordinate of Guzmán López.[55][56]
A parallel press announcement by U.S. Secretary of State
Antony Blinken described the sanctions as "part of a
whole-of-government effort to disrupt and dismantle the transnational criminal organizations that facilitate the illicit supply of fentanyl and other narcotics".[57]
On the same day as these announcements, the docket of the U.S. criminal case against Guzmán López was updated, with the trial attorney of the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section of the Department of Justice substituting as Government counsel of record.[58]
On 28 February 2023,
CBS News,
Agence France-Presse, and
Reuters quoted unnamed sources in the Mexican government as stating that the United States has formally requested Guzmán López's extradition.[59][60]
On 15 September 2023, the government of Mexico extradited Guzmán López to the United States to face drug trafficking charges. U.S Attorney General
Merrick Garland described the extradition as "the most recent step in the Justice Department's effort to attack every aspect of the cartel's operations". [61][62][63][64]
^
ab"Indictment (Sealed)"(PDF), United States of America v. Joaquín Guzmán López (Court Filing), no. 1:18-cr-00081, Docket 1, Attachment 0_1, D.D.C., 2 April 2018, retrieved 12 April 2022 – via
Recap (
PACERcurrent docket view)