Guzman Lopez is one of El Chapo’s 12 children and is part of Los Chapitos, a powerful faction of his father’s drug empire.
Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of infamous drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, has been sanctioned by the US government, along with three other members of the Sinaloa cartel
Also designated are Raymundo Perez Uribe, Saul Paez Lopez, and Mario Esteban Ogazon Sedano. Uribe is said to lead a supplier network that the cartel uses to obtain chemicals used to make drugs. Lopez coordinates drug shipments for Los Chapitos, while Sedano purchases chemicals and operates illegal laboratories for the cartel. The Office of Foreign Assets Control has designated these individuals and a Mexican company, Sumilab, S.A. de C.V. for their involvement in providing and shipping precursor chemicals for and to cartel members and associates.
The US government aims to disrupt key nodes of the global illicit fentanyl enterprise, including the producers, suppliers, and transporters. The Sinaloa cartel is responsible for a significant portion of illicit fentanyl trafficked into the United States and also traffics heroin and methamphetamine in large quantities.
This is not the first time that Guzman Lopez has faced charges
He was indicted on federal drug trafficking charges in 2018 and has had multiple charges since then. The other three members of Los Chapitos have also been indicted on US federal drug trafficking charges in one or more jurisdictions.
El Chapo, the Sinaloa cartel’s founder, is serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison in Colorado after being convicted in 2019 on charges including drug trafficking, money laundering, and weapons-related offenses. In January, he sent an “SOS” message to Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, alleging that he has been subjected to “psychological torment” in prison. The US government plans to continue leveraging its authorities to isolate and disrupt Los Chapitos and the Sinaloa cartel’s operations with the cooperation of the Government of Mexico and US law enforcement.
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