The US Attorney General has confirmed the extradition of a son of the notorious drug lord Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán to the United States on drug trafficking charges.
Ovidio Guzmán, along with his brother, is believed to be at the helm of the formidable Sinaloa drug cartel, an organsation founded by their father.
Ovidio is facing allegations of having orchestrated the killing of a singer who declined to perform at his wedding.
He was apprehended in January in the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa and has remained in custody since then.
‘This action is the most recent step in the Justice Department’s effort to attack every aspect of the cartel’s operations,’ US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement regarding the extradition.
‘The fight against the cartels has involved incredible courage by United States law enforcement and Mexican law enforcement and military servicemembers, many of whom have given their lives in the pursuit of justice.’
Mr. Garland expressed gratitude to the Mexican government for their support in facilitating Ovidio’s transfer to the United States.
The extradition did not elicit an immediate reaction from Mexican officials.
It’s worth mentioning that this development occurred a few days after Emma Coronel, the wife of the 33-year-old’s father, was released from US custody, having been sentenced in November 2021 on drug trafficking charges.
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Her husband is incarcerated in a supermax prison in Colorado, serving a life sentence for his leadership of the Sinaloa cartel.
Ovidio Guzmán is among the four children Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán fathered during his relationship with Griselda López in the 1980s and 90s. The eldest among them, Edgar, lost his life in a cartel shootout in 2008.
Apart from his children with Griselda López, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán has other offspring from both his previous marriage and his subsequent relationship with Coronel.
Guzmán, whose alias is “El Ratón” (The Mouse), was apprehended outside the city of Culiacán after a six-month surveillance operation.
The intense firefight that followed resulted in the loss of 29 lives, with cartel members resorting to setting buses and cars ablaze to obstruct access roads and impede police reinforcements from reaching the city.
Ovidio was airlifted to Mexico City in a helicopter due to concerns that his henchmen might attempt to ambush the convoy if he were transported by road.
Back in June 2020, security forces detained him briefly, but Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador directed his release “to safeguard the safety of the population” as Sinaloa gunmen set buses ablaze and engaged in confrontations with law enforcement.
He managed to stay out of sight for the subsequent 18 months after his release until he was re-apprehended in January 2023.
Considered a transnational criminal syndicate, the Sinaloa cartel, as per US law enforcement calculations, is responsible for the smuggling of over 1,000 tons of cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamines, and heroin into the US.
In its quest to solidify power, the cartel’s enforcers abducted, subjected to torture, and executed members of rival gangs.
The cartel’s members have resorted to bribing both law enforcement officers and prominent political figures, not only in Mexico but also throughout Central America. These actions have led to officials either overlooking drug shipments or clandestinely alerting the cartel to imminent raids.