Drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is escorted into a helicopter at Mexico City’s airport on January 8, 2016 following his recapture during an intense military operation in Los Mochis, in Sinaloa State. (Photo by ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP via Getty Images)
OAN Staff James Meyers 11:06 AM – Wednesday, May 14, 2025
Mexico’s security chief announced on Tuesday that family members of the infamous cartel leader “El Chapo” have entered the U.S. as part of negotiations with the Trump administration over one of his sons’ trafficking charges.
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Mexican Security Secretary Omar Hamid García Harfuch confirmed a report by independent journalist Luis Chaparro, which claimed that 17 family members of Guzmán Lopez, who was extradited to the U.S. in 2023, have entered the United States.
Relatives of El Chapo Guzmán fled from Culiacán and surrendered to FBI agents at the Tijuana border crossing, fearing being exterminated by La Mayiza and by agreement with the United States Government, with this it is clear who is winning the Narcowar for Sinaloa. pic.twitter.com/2bvE1Dhafr
Guzmán López is widely recognized as one of the brothers who assumed leadership of a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel following the incarceration of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán in the United States in 2016.
Last week, reports emerged indicating that Guzmán intended to enter a guilty plea to circumvent a trial while confronting multiple drug trafficking charges in the United States — following his arrest in a large-scale operation that resulted in 29 fatalities.
Meanwhile, García Harfuch also confirmed the family members’ entry into the U.S. in a radio interview — noting that the Trump administration was currently negotiating with Guzmán López.
“It is evident that his family is going to the U.S. because of a negotiation or an offer that the Department of Justice is giving him,” Garcia Harfuch said.
He asserted that none of the family members were being targeted by Mexican authorities, and emphasized that the Trump administration is obligated to share the applicable information with Mexican prosecutors.
This significant development follows an announcement from the office of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, which revealed charges against several prominent cartel leaders for “narcoterrorism,” coinciding with the Trump administration’s designation of numerous cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
“Let me be direct, to the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, you are no longer the hunters, you are the hunted. You will be betrayed by your friends, you will be hounded by your enemies, and you will ultimately find yourself and your face here in a courtroom in the Southern District of California,” Attorney Adam Gordon for the Southern District of California said about the 17 family members.
THE HUNTERS BECOME THE HUNTED.
17 members of the family of convicted drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera crossed the Mexico-U.S. border and turned themselves into Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials onMay 9th 2025 pic.twitter.com/uFlfrpSCoD
Additionally, U.S. officials revealed an indictment against two alleged Sinaloa Cartel leaders on Tuesday, citing narco-terrorism charges. According to prosecutors, the two suspects are father and son, and they both ran one of the most prominent fentanyl production networks.
United States officials allege that El Chapo’s sons assumed control of the Sinaloa Cartel, following their father’s capture. The Sinaloa Cartel is among six Mexican drug trafficking organizations designated as terrorist groups by President Donald Trump.
Ovidio Guzman has been accused of shipping illicit drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, and marijuana, into the U.S.
Joaquín Guzmán López was arrested in July 2024, in El Paso, Texas, by U.S. authorities. The arrest occurred after he and Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada landed at a municipal airport near El Paso, having flown in from Mexico. Reports suggest that Guzmán López orchestrated the surrender, possibly as part of a cooperation agreement with U.S. law enforcement.
As a result, the arrests have sparked serious cartel infighting — which has left over 1,200 people dead and 1,400 missing in the Sinaloa state, located in northwestern Mexico.
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