MEXICO: According to the US Attorney General, the son of notorious drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán has been extradited to the country on drug trafficking charges.
Ovidio Guzman and his brother are accused of leading the Sinaloa drug cartel established by their father. He is also accused of ordering the murder of a singer who declined to sing at his wedding.
Guzman was apprehended in Sinaloa, Mexico, in January. US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced his extradition, stating it is the latest step in the Justice Department’s efforts to target the cartel’s operations.
Mexican and US military and law enforcement members have shown extraordinary bravery in fighting against cartels, with many giving their lives to uphold the rule of law, he added.
Garland praised the Mexican government for helping to transport Ovidio to the US. This comes just days after Emma Coronel, the wife of Ovidio’s father, was allowed to leave the US prison system after being sentenced in November 2021 on drug trafficking charges.
El Chapo, known for running the Sinaloa cartel, is currently in a supermax jail in Colorado. He had four children with Griselda López, including Ovidio Guzmán. In 2008, Edgar, the oldest, was killed in a gunfight between cartels.
El Chapo has additional children from his previous marriage. Guzmán, known as “El Ratón,” was apprehended outside of Culiacán after a six-month monitoring operation.
In the ensuing gunfight, 29 people lost their lives, while members of his cartel destroyed buses and cars to block access roadways and keep additional police from entering the city.
Ovidio was flown to Mexico City by helicopter because his hitmen would assault the convoy if he was transferred by road.
He was briefly captured in June 2020, but Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador instructed them to release him to prevent putting the population at risk. During that time, Sinaloa gunmen destroyed buses and fought in gun battles with police and troops. Ovidio was hidden for 18 months before his re-arrest in January 2023.
The Sinaloa cartel, a multinational criminal organization, is believed to have smuggled over 1,000 tonnes of cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamines, and heroin into the US.
To gain control, the cartel’s hitmen kidnapped, tortured, and assassinated rival gang members. They have also paid off police and politicians in Central America to ignore drug shipments or inform them of imminent searches.
Also Read: Texas Shooting: Gunman Kills Five, Including an 8-year-old Boy
