Ovidio Guzmán López Explained

Ovidio Guzmán López
Birth Name:Ovidio Guzmán López
Birth Date:29 March 1990
Birth Place:Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico
Other Names:El Ratón
El Nuevo Ratón
Organization:Sinaloa Cartel (suspected)
Criminal Charge: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. §§,, and)
Conviction Penalty:10 years (Mandatory minimum) to Life
Conviction Status:Incarcerated
Parents:Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán
Relatives:Joaquín Guzmán López (brother), Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar (half-brother), Jesus Alfredo Guzmán Salazar (half-brother)
Reward Amount:US$5,000,000
Capture Status:Extradited to U.S.
Wanted By: FGR
FBI, HSI
Country:Mexico
Apprehended:5 January 2023
Imprisoned:MCC Chicago (pretrial)
Height Ft:5
Height In:7

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.[1]

He was captured on 5 January 2023 and remanded to Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1, until he was extradited to the US on 15 September 2023, where he is currently awaiting trial.[2] [3] [4]

Early life

Guzmán López was born 29 March 1990 and is a son of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán with his second wife.[5] [6] [7] [8] 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.[9]

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.[10]

Career

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury named him a "Key Lieutenant" of his father and the Sinaloa Cartel in a 2012 sanctions Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act ("Kingpin Act").[11] [12]

It is widely reported that Guzmán López took on a prominent role of the Sinaloa Cartel after his father's arrest.[13] [14] 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.[15]

In July 2017, the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia empaneled a grand jury that formally indicted both Ovidio Guzmán López and his brother Joaquín Guzmán López on charges of participating in a conspiracy to traffic cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana since 2008. The sealed indictment was filed 2 April 2018.[16]

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]

2019 capture and release

See also: Battle of Culiacán. 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] [20] Heavily armed[21] [22] cartel gunmen (numbering over 600) 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 President Andrés 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]

The Air Force then flew Guzmán López by helicopter to the Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 ("Altiplano"), a maximum security federal prison in Almoloya de Juárez, later that afternoon.[38] An additional 17 suspected cartel members were also taken into custody in the initial operation.[39]

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. 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.

Violence in Sinaloa and Sonora

See main article: 2023 Sinaloa unrest. 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]

Unrest led to the closure of Culiacán International Airport as two planes at the airport—an airliner operated by Aeroméxico and a military aircraft—took gunfire. Shootouts were also reported on the runway.[42] [43] Aeroméxico diverted planes away from the international airports in Los Mochis and Mazatlán as well.[44] Attacks on two trucks on Highway 15 in neighboring Sonora prompted Aeroméxico to also cancel flights from Ciudad Obregón International Airport.[45] Regular service at all the affected airports was restored during the morning of 6 January.[46]

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.

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 caliber Barrett rifles, six 50 caliber machine guns, 26 long arms, 2 handguns, magazines, cartridges, various tactical equipment and 13 operational vehicles" were seized.

Post-recapture

Following Guzmán López's capture, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control applied sanctions pursuant to 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]

On 23 July 2024, two days before the arrests of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and Ovidio's brother Joaquín Guzmán López, the Bureau of Prisons inmate records showed his status as released. The U.S. Department of Justice said that he remains in custody.[65]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Verza . María . Sherman . Christopher . 5 January 2022 . Mexico nabs son of drug lord 'El Chapo' before Biden visit . Associated Press . 5 January 2022.
  2. News: Laurent . Anne . Rivers . Matt . Katersky . Aaron . 5 January 2023 . Ovidio Guzman, son of El Chapo and alleged major fentanyl trafficker, arrested in Mexico . ABC News . 5 January 2023.
  3. Web site: 6 January 2023 . Guzmán López, "El Ratón", arriba al Cefereso 1, el de más alta seguridad en México . 6 January 2023 . SinEmbargo MX . es.
  4. Web site: Janowitz . Nathaniel . Chaparro . Luis . Green . Emily . 6 January 2023 . El Chapo's Son 'El Bebe' Is the Weakest Link in the Sinaloa Cartel . 6 January 2023 . . en.
  5. Web site: 17 October 2019 . ¿Quién es Ovidio Guzmán López, el hijo de "El Chapo"? . 2 April 2020 . La Razón . Spanish.
  6. Web site: 30 October 2019 . Ovidio Guzmán: de "niño bien" a narco . 2 April 2020 . . Spanish.
  7. Web site: 29 March 2020 . En su visita a Badiraguato, AMLO saludó a la mamá del Chapo Guzmán . 2 April 2020 . . Spanish.
  8. News: Linthicum . Kate . 19 October 2019 . Did jailing 'El Chapo' matter? In seizing a city, the Sinaloa cartel shows it's still strong . Los Angeles Times . live . 19 October 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191020015734/https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-10-19/el-chapo-sinaloa-cartel-culiacan . 20 October 2019.
  9. Web site: Domínguez . Alejandro . Ovidio Guzmán estudió en colegio de los Legionarios de Cristo . 6 January 2023 . Grupo Milenio . 30 October 2019 . es-MX.
  10. News: 18 October 2019 . Cartel gunmen terrorize Mexican city, free El Chapo's son . en . Reuters . 6 January 2023.
  11. Web site: 8 May 2012 . Treasury Targets Leading Figures of Sinaloa Cartel . usurped . https://web.archive.org/web/20191022134844/https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1576.aspx . 22 October 2019 . 22 October 2019 . United States Department of the Treasury.
  12. News: 9 May 2019 . US blacklists sons of Mexico drug lord Joaquin Guzman . BBC News . live . 22 October 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191208061238/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-18002071 . 8 December 2019.
  13. News: The Stunning Escape of El Chapo's Son: It's Like 'a Bad Netflix Show'. Azam. Ahmed. The New York Times. 18 October 2019. 19 October 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191018233430/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/18/world/americas/mexico-cartel-chapo-son-guzman.html. 18 October 2019. live.
  14. News: What we know about El Chapo's son Ovidio Guzmán López. The Washington Post. 18 October 2019. 19 October 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191019002313/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/10/18/what-we-know-about-el-chapos-son-ovidio-guzman-lopez/. 19 October 2019. live.
  15. News: Gun battles rattle Mexican city after troops find Chapo's son. Andrés. Villarreal. María. Verza. Associated Press News. 18 October 2019. 19 October 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191019051140/https://www.apnews.com/8667eb354bcc4af6bce4dc599db9b109. 19 October 2019. live.
  16. United States of America. Joaquín Guzmán López. Indictment (Sealed). 1. 0_1. 2 April 2018. 195034. yes. DC. D. 1. 2018. cr. 00081. 12 April 2022.
  17. United States of America. Joaquín Guzmán López. Order on Motion to Unseal Document. 1. 0_1. 2 April 2022. 195034. yes. DC. D. 1. 2018. cr. 00081. 12 April 2022.
  18. United States of America. Joaquín Guzmán López. Order on Motion to Unseal Document. 9. 0. 2 April 2022. 195035. yes. DC. D. 1. 2018. cr. 00081. 12 April 2022.
  19. News: Mexican Drug Kingpin 'El Chapo' Is Sentenced To Life Plus 30 Years In U.S. Prison. Bill. Chapell. NPR. 17 July 2019. 19 October 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191011231719/https://www.npr.org/2019/07/17/742601114/el-chapo-is-sentenced-to-life-plus-30-years-in-prison-for-drug-crimes. 11 October 2019. live.
  20. News: Proceso. Detienen a hijo del "Chapo" Guzmán en Sinaloa. 17 October 2019. 18 October 2019. es. Son of "El Chapo" Guzman arrested in Sinaloa. https://web.archive.org/web/20191018020257/https://www.proceso.com.mx/603590/detienen-a-hijo-del-chapo-guzman-en-sinaloa. 18 October 2019. live.
  21. How the Sinaloa Cartel Bested the Mexican Army. Grillo. Joan. 18 October 2019. Time. 12 December 2019.
  22. Web site: Durante operativo en Culiacán, sicarios atacaron unidad habitacional militar. 30 October 2019. Uno TV. es-MX. 12 December 2019.
  23. Web site: Y la entidad, con al menos 8,000 soldados, policías y de la GN. Monroy. Jorge. 20 October 2019. El Economista. es-MX. 12 December 2019.
  24. News: Suman 14 muertos por balaceras en Culiacán. Vizcarra. Marcos. 21 October 2019. Reforma. es-MX.
  25. News: El Chapo's Son Was Just Captured — Then Freed After the Cartel Attacked. Keegan. Hamilton. Vice News. 17 October 2019. 19 October 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191019051206/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vb5q3y/confirmed-el-chapos-son-captured-amid-gun-fights-and-chaos-in-sinaloa-mexico. 19 October 2019. live.
  26. News: In Mexico, El Chapo's sons add brash new chapter to crime family. David Alire. Garcia. Reuters. 22 October 2019. 26 October 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191026230027/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-violence-sinaloa-feature/in-mexico-el-chapos-sons-add-brash-new-chapter-to-crime-family-idUSKBN1X12RD. 26 October 2019. live.
  27. News: 'Arrest' of drug king pin El Chapo's son sparks fierce gun battle in Mexico. Deborah. Bonello. The Telegraph. 18 October 2019. 19 October 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191019070752/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/10/18/arrest-drug-king-pin-el-chapos-son-sparks-fierce-gun-battle/. 19 October 2019. live.
  28. News: Proceso. Ovidio Guzmán fue liberado, confirma Alfonso Durazo. es. 18 October 2019. 18 October 2019. Ovidio Guzmán was freed, confirms Alfonso Durazo. https://web.archive.org/web/20191018055609/https://www.proceso.com.mx/603611/ovidio-guzman-fue-liberado-confirma-alfonso-durazo. 18 October 2019. live.
  29. News: 'We do not want war': Mexico president defends release of El Chapo's son. The Guardian. 18 October 2019. 18 October 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191018144525/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/18/el-chapo-son-ovidio-guzman-lopez-release-amlo. 18 October 2019. live.
  30. News: El Chapo: Mexican police free drug lord's son as Culiacán battle erupts. BBC News. 18 October 2019. 18 October 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191018014516/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-50092641. 18 October 2019. live.
  31. News: Respaldé la liberación del hijo de El Chapo para evitar una masacre: AMLO. "I backed the release of El Chapo's son in order to prevent a massacre: AMLO". Proceso. es. 18 October 2019. 18 October 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191018140306/https://www.proceso.com.mx/603631/respalde-la-liberacion-del-hijo-de-el-chapo-para-evitar-una-masacre-amlo. 18 October 2019. live.
  32. Web site: El Gobierno de López Obrador le congeló cuentas millonarias a Ovidio Guzmán, hijo del "Chapo". 7 May 2020. infobae.
  33. News: 6 January 2023 . Juez da 60 días de prisión preventiva a Ovidio Guzmán mientras EU solicita su extradición . .
  34. News: Recapturan a Ovidio Guzmán, hijo del "Chapo", en Jesús María, Sinaloa . El Heraldo de México . 5 January 2023.
  35. News: Mexico arrests capo Ovidio Guzman, son of "El Chapo" - sources. 5 January 2023. Reuters.
  36. Web site: Inside El Chapo's Son's House After a Deadly Gunfight . 2 March 2023 . www.vice.com . 19 January 2023 . en.
  37. Web site: Hagstrom . Anders . 5 January 2023 . El Chapo's son has been captured in Sinaloa in Mexican military operation: report . 5 January 2023 . Fox News . en-US.
  38. News: Ovidio Guzmán llega a penal del Altiplano tras 12 horas de su detención en Culiacán . Excélsior . 5 January 2023.
  39. News: Ovidio fue detenido con 17 más del cártel de Sinaloa; 7 militares murieron en el lugar . Excélsior . 6 January 2023.
  40. Web site: 5 January 2023 . Alert: Reports of Violence in Sinaloa . live . https://archive.today/20230105211512/https://mx.usembassy.gov/alert-reports-of-violence-in-sinaloa/ . 5 January 2023 . 5 January 2023 . U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Mexico . en-US.
  41. News: Ovidio Guzmán-López: Deadly riots grip Mexican state after arrest of El Chapo's son . BBC News . 5 January 2023.
  42. Web site: Mexican airline Aeromexico says a plane was hit by gunfire, no reported injuries . 5 January 2023 . NBC News . 5 January 2023 . en.
  43. Web site: Ferri . Pablo . 6 January 2023 . Shootouts, burned-out cars and closed airports: Los Chapitos terrorize Culiacán after Ovidio Guzmán arrest . 6 January 2023 . EL PAÍS English Edition . en-us.
  44. Web site: Plaza . Fidel Gutierrez,Mitchell McCluskey,Tara John,Elizabeth . 5 January 2023 . Mexican authorities arrest son of notorious drug lord 'El Chapo' . 5 January 2023 . CNN . en.
  45. News: Aeropuerto y autobuses de Sonora suspenden operaciones por disturbios tras captura de Ovidio Guzmán . El Universal . 5 January 2023.
  46. News: Aeropuertos de Culiacán, Mazatlán y Los Mochis normalizan operaciones . Aristegui Noticias . 6 January 2023.
  47. News: IDEOS. Saquean comercios tras detención de Ovidio Guzmán . El Universal . 5 January 2023.
  48. Web site: Mexico gives account of violence after 'Chapo' son nabbed. Associated Press. 7 January 2022.
  49. Web site: 6 January 2023 . Ovidio Guzmán-López: Twenty-nine killed during arrest of El Chapo's son . 6 January 2023 . the Guardian . en.
  50. News: Al menos dos policías muertos tras captura de Ovidio Guzmán . 6 January 2023 . Aristegui Noticias . 5 January 2023.
  51. News: Reportan un muerto y 18 lesionados tras enfrentamientos en Sinaloa por detención de Ovidio Guzmán . El Universal . 5 January 2023.
  52. News: Matan a coronel en emboscada tras detención de Ovidio Guzmán; reportan otros 4 muertos . El Universal . 5 January 2023.
  53. Web site: 6 January 2023 . Ovidio Guzmán was caught with 17 more Sinaloa Cartel members . 9 January 2023 . The Yucatan Times . en-US.
  54. Web site: Norman . Greg . 9 January 2023 . Mexico says 3,586 soldiers involved in operation to capture El Chapo's son Ovidio Guzman . 9 January 2023 . Fox News . en-US.
  55. Web site: Treasury Sanctions Sinaloa Cartel Network of "Super Lab" Suppliers and Fentanyl Operators . 24 February 2023 . U.S. Department of the Treasury . en.
  56. Web site: Fossum . Sam . 22 February 2023 . Biden administration sanctions Mexican drug cartel network for supplying and operating fentanyl labs CNN Politics . 24 February 2023 . CNN . en.
  57. Web site: Blinken . Anthony . Antony Blinken . 22 February 2023 . U.S. to Sanction Sinaloa Cartel Network of Fentanyl Suppliers Contributing to the U.S. Opioid Crisis . state.gov . United States Department of State.
  58. United States of America. Ovidio Guzman Lopez. Notice of Substitution of Counsel. 11. 22 February 2023. 195035. DC. D. 1. 18. cr. 00081. 24 February 2023.
  59. News: Diaz . Lizbeth . 28 February 2023 . U.S. requests extradition of Ovidio Guzman, son of 'El Chapo', from Mexico -sources . en . Reuters . 1 March 2023.
  60. Web site: 28 February 2023 . U.S. requests extradition of Ovidio Guzman, son of "El Chapo," Mexico says . 1 March 2023 . . en-US.
  61. Web site: 2023-09-16 . US: Mexico extradites Ovidio Guzmán López, son of Sinaloa cartel leader 'El Chapo,' to United States . 2023-09-16 . AP News . en.
  62. Web site: 2023-09-15 . Office of Public Affairs Statement from Attorney General Merrick B. Garland on the Extradition of Ovidio Guzman Lopez from Mexico to the United States United States Department of Justice . 2023-09-16 . www.justice.gov . en.
  63. Web site: 2023-09-16 . Son of drug kingpin 'El Chapo' extradited to United States . 2023-09-16 . NBC News . en.
  64. Web site: Zerega . Georgina . 2023-09-16 . Ovidio Guzmán, hijo de El Chapo, extraditado a Estados Unidos por narcotráfico . 2023-09-16 . El País México . es-MX.
  65. Web site: Tabachnick . Cara . Triay . Andres . 2024-07-26 . Powerful cartel leader was duped by El Chapo's son into flying to U.S., sources say - CBS News . 2024-07-27 . www.cbsnews.com . en-US.

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