El Chapo's son Ovidio Guzman Lopez pleads guilty to US drug charges

6:58 am on 12 July 2025

By Renee Hickman and Jack Queen, Reuters

(FILES) Grab from a handout video released by the Mexican Government's Production Centre for Informative and Special Programmes (CEPROPIE) during the morning press conference of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on October 30, 2019, showing the moment of the arrest of alleged trafficker Ovidio Guzman, son of jailed drug kingpin Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman, on October 17, 2019. Mexico extradited Ovidio Guzmán López, aka "El Ratón" and son of drug trafficker Joaquín "Chapo" Guzmán, to the United States on September 15, 2023, the US Attorney General office and US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. (Photo by HO / CEPROPIE / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / CEPROPIE / HO" - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

The moment of the arrest of alleged drug trafficker Ovidio Guzman Lopez or El Raton. Photo: AFP PHOTO / CEPROPIE / HO

A son of imprisoned Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has pleaded guilty to four criminal counts in two related drug trafficking cases targeting the notorious Sinaloa Cartel.

Ovidio Guzman Lopez, 35, pleaded guilty to two counts of drug distribution and two counts of participation in a continuing criminal enterprise before US District Judge Sharon Coleman in Chicago.

He faces a possible life sentence.

Prosecutors allege Ovidio Guzman Lopez and his brothers - known as the "Chapitos," or little Chapos - revived the Sinaloa Cartel after their father's arrest in 2016 by embracing fentanyl, reaping hundreds of millions of dollars in profits by sending the deadly opioid to the US.

Ovidio Guzman Lopez, also known as "El Raton" or "Raton Nuevo" was extradited to the US from Mexico in September 2023 as part of the federal government's war on fentanyl, a highly lethal drug that killed nearly 200 Americans daily in 2023.

That death toll has been a flashpoint in President Donald Trump's trade negotiations with Mexico, with Trump demanding Mexico do more to stop the flow of fentanyl in exchange for tariff relief.

In this file photo taken on January 8, 2016 Mexican Drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is escorted into a helicopter at Mexico City's airport following his recapture during an intense military operation in Los Mochis, in Sinaloa State.

Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escorted into a helicopter at Mexico City's airport following his recapture in 2016. Photo: AFP

Ovidio Guzman Lopez brother Joaquin Guzman Lopez was arrested in El Paso along with Sinaloa kingpin Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada last July in a dramatic coup for US authorities, who recruited Joaquin Guzman Lopez to lure Zambada into the country on a private plane.

Also known as "El Guero" or "Guero Moreno", Joaquin Guzman Lopez pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and money laundering charges, and prosecutors said they would not pursue the death penalty against him.

Zambada, who co-founded the Sinaloa Cartel with El Chapo, has also pleaded not guilty.

In February, his lawyer told Reuters he would be willing to plead guilty if prosecutors agreed to spare him the death penalty.

El Chapo is serving a life sentence at a maximum security prison in Colorado after his 2019 drug trafficking conviction.

- Reuters