Nine months after his arrest and after several attempts by his defense to prevent his extradition, Ovidio Guzmán López, son of the famous drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, was transferred on Friday, September 15 from the Altiplano Maximum Security Prison to the United States.
Still wearing his prisoner 5684 uniform, handcuffed and wearing glasses, the young drug trafficker was put on an official plane and taken to Chicago, where he remained in prison for almost a year.
“El Ratón” (The Mouse) – as he was nicknamed – faced charges in the United States for arms trafficking, money laundering and for leading a criminal organization dedicated to the manufacture and transfer of drugs and fentanyl to this country, which is facing a severe crisis of addictions and deaths.
The heir to an empire
Joaquín Guzmán López “El Ratón” gradually assumed control of the Sinaloa Cartel after his father was arrested in 2016 and at the same time, he founded a parallel organization together with his brothers Iván, Alfredo and Joaquín, called “Los Chapitos”, with a presence in several states of the country.
According to a report by the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Ovidio Guzmán and Emma Coronel, wife of “El Chapo” Guzmán, were among those responsible for the escape of the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel from the Almoloya prison, State of Mexico, in 2015.
The Culiacanazo
Ten months after President Andrés Manuel López Obrador assumed power on October 17, 2019, members of the National Defense Secretariat led an arrest operation against Ovidio Guzmán in Culiacán, Sinaloa, one of the main operating sites of the so-called Pacific Cartel.
This triggered a series of drug blockades, exchanges of gunfire, acts of violence and even a warning from members of the criminal organization to the Mexican government to carry out attacks against the civilian population.
For this reason, the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador ordered the military forces deployed in Sinaloa to withdraw and free the son of drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who was already in the United States facing criminal charges.
Second capture
In the early hours of January 5, 2023, elements of the Ministry of National Defense and the National Guard were deployed in Sinaloa to carry out a discreet operation to capture Ovidio Guzmán for the second time.
Members of the Sinaloa Cartel and Los Chapitos once again activated their protocols to try to secure the release of their leader. However, after his capture on the outskirts of Culiacán, “El Ratón” was transferred to Mexico City and later to the Altiplano prison.
In their attempt to threaten the federal government, members of the criminal organization blocked several roads and burned vehicles, and even shot at a commercial airplane at the Culiacán airport.
Due to the violence, authorities in Sinaloa have issued a red alert and asked the population and tourists to take shelter to avoid risky situations.
Finally, authorities managed to contain the violence.
-Information under development.
