Who is Dámaso López Serrano?
“Mini Lic” is the son of Dámaso López Núñez, “El Licensed”, who served as a financial operator for the Sinaloa Cartel and was one of the men closest to its leader.
However, the Sinaloa Cartel divided after the extradition to the United States of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán in 2017; It was then that power was disputed between “Los Chapitos” and “El Licensed” with their son.
According to “Mini Lic”, “Los Chapitos” began with attacks against his group, since “El Chapo”‘s instruction was allegedly for López Núñez to lead the organization.
“My dad didn’t want to fight, but they started killing our men and every time we confronted them they denied everything or said it had been a mistake. Until they killed “El Pantera”, my head of security,” he stated in an interview with Vice in 2023.
The Attorney General’s Office (FGR) has identified López Serrano as the probable mastermind of the murder of journalist Javier Valdez Cárdenas, founder of Río Doce, who was investigating drug trafficking and organized crime networks in Sinaloa. The communicator was shot at on May 15, 2017 when leaving the newsroom of the media outlet he directed.
López Serrano surrendered to United States authorities in July 2017 and pleaded guilty in January 2018 to conspiracy to distribute drugs, for which he was sentenced to six years in prison.
