The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, many would say, and this may be the case for Ovidio Guzman whose father, Joaquin was famous for trafficking drugs
Mexican authorities have extradited a son of Mexican drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman, to Chicago.
The authorities arrested him after a bloody firefight with them earlier this year. They expect him to face sweeping narcotics trafficking charges.
Ovidio Guzman Lopez, 32, is reputed to have taken over the powerful Sinaloa cartel after his father’s arrest seven years ago.
He is one of four El Chapo sons, nicknamed the “Chapitos,” charged in an indictment unsealed in Chicago earlier this year.
Authorities captured Guzman Lopez in Culiacán, Mexico in January after an intense battle. 10 soldiers and 19 suspects died.
He could make an initial appearance at the Dirksen US Courthouse as soon as Monday.
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Guzman Lopez and 27 other members of the notorious Sinaloa cartel will be charged as part of a multi-jurisdictional fentanyl-trafficking investigation.
Attorney General Merrick Garland; U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration chief Anne Milgram; and other top federal prosecutors, including acting Chicago U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual launched the investigation.
Garland Describes Cartel’s Crimes
In outlining the charges, Garland described the violence of the Sinaloa cartel and how its members have tortured perceived enemies, including Mexican law enforcement officials.
In some cases, cartel members also have fed victims, some still alive, to tigers owned by Guzmán’s sons, Garland said.
The Chicago indictment alleged Guzman Lopez assumed day-to-day control of the cartel after his father’s arrest in 2016.
The indictment accuses the sons of orchestrating the shipment of thousands of pounds of cocaine, marijuana, and other drugs into the U.S. by boat, plane, and other means.
Guzman’s other sons charged in Chicago, Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, remained at large as of Friday.
The indictment was filed as part of the same case originally filed in Chicago in 2009 against El Chapo himself as well as many of his top henchmen, which is widely considered the largest narcotics case ever brought in Chicago.
