On Friday, during his appearance before a federal court in Chicago, Guzmán López – of 35 years –he wore the classic orange uniform of inmate and accepted the charges as one of the four children of El Chapo who inherited command of Sinaloa cartel After its definitive capture.
This decision marks a break with your father’s strategy, Joaquín Guzmán Loerawho rejected any judicial treatment and underwent a trial in which he received life imprisonment in 2019.
What can happen to the son of the “Chapo” Guzmán
Although the complete terms of the agreement were not disseminated, specialists agree that the declaration of guilt is part of a strategy of Judicial collaboration To avoid the life imprisonment and get a reduced conviction.
“There would be no incentive to declare himself guilty unless he was cooperating,” said the lawyer ROB HEROY to BBC Worldwho represented another Mexican who recognized similar positions in 2014.
This understanding between the US government and Guzmán López generated criticism in Mexicoespecially by the president Claudia Sheinbaumwho pointed out the lack of shared information with the Attorney General of the Republic.
Who is Ovid Guzmán López
Nicknamed “The mouse”, Guzmán López won notoriety after his failed arrest in 2019when Sinaloa cartel unleashed an armed offensive in Culiacán And he achieved his release, a fact that weakened the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
However, his drug trafficking began much earlier. In 2012to the 22 years, USA included it in his list of “Significant foreign drug traffickers”.
After the definitive capture of El Chapo in 2016, Ovid He assumed leadership functions with his brothers, the others “Chapitos”. Prosecutors in Chicago They defined it as a “Logistics Coordinator” supervised shipping heroin, cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine toward USAand then washed the profits in Mexico.
An additional cause in New York He pointed it out as the “Main responsible for Fentanyl Operations” of the cartel. According to the accusation of 2023the “Chapitos” They headed The largest and most violent fentanyl traffic network in the worldoperating with bribes, torture, murders and kidnappings.
From capture to the statement of guilt
In January 2023the authorities managed to stop again Guzmán Lópezwithout the cartel members could rescue him. It was extradited to USA eight months later, made that Washington He stood out as an example of bilateral cooperation.
Initially he declared innocent of the charges for drug trafficking, money laundering and firearms usebut over the months the judicial agreement began to take shape.
Family tensions
In parallel, Joaquín Guzmán Salazarbrother of Ovidthe authorities were given to Texas next to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambadaco -founder of the cartel. The latter denounced having been taken by force and currently seeks to avoid the death penalty.
The situation triggered a violent internal dispute between the wing of May and the “Chapitos”which left close to 1500 dead and numerous missingaccording to local reports.
In Mayrelatives of the Guzmán López entered to USAwhat the Mexican Security Secretary, Omar García Harfuchinterpreted as part of a Judicial negotiation. Although the lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman denied it, the president Sheinbaum demanded formal explanations.
“We of course fight organized crime,” said the president. “But being a case of extradition, there should be coordination with the Attorney General.”
From Congress, the official legislator Ricardo Monreal He proposed to review the extradition law, while the opponent Cristina Ruiz He warned: “Guzmán López will reveal names, and many narcopolitics should worry.”
Testimony and reduced conviction
The lawyer HEROY He considered the Guzmán López They could provide USA One of the “deepest cooperations” in the history of criminal processes by drug trafficking.
“They put their lives and those of their families at risk. They have access to high -level information from both the cartel and the Mexican government,” he said.
According to your analysis, Ovid I could receive one 15 -year condemnation and be transferred to a prison for protected witnesses.
Similar cases have already occurred during the trial to El Chapowhere his own his testified in exchange for penalty reductions. But these collaborations do not always generate a decrease in drug trafficking or violence.
The political scientist Angelica Durán-Martínezfrom the University of Massachusetts Lowellsaid the alliance between Guzmán López and USA could intensify internal struggles and benefit rival cartelslike him Jalisco Nueva Generación.
“These agreements always appear as triumphs, but they are ephemeral achievements,” he said. “They do not dismantle drug trafficking or reduce violence or corruption, and they do not help clarify crimes such as disappearances or homicides.”
Source: Ambito
