Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of infamous Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, has entered a guilty plea to drug trafficking charges in a U.S. court. This plea occurred following a commitment from U.S. prosecutors in May to forgo the death penalty in his case. At 39, López is affiliated with Los Chapitos, a faction comprised of El Chapo’s children, which includes his brother Ovidio. Ovidio also pleaded guilty in July to various charges, including drug trafficking, firearms offenses, and money laundering.
Following their father’s arrest, U.S. prosecutors assert that the brothers assumed leadership roles within the Sinaloa cartel. López was apprehended last year, alongside cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, after arriving on a private plane in Texas. Authorities report that López played a part in deceiving Zambada into boarding the aircraft under the pretense of traveling to explore potential locations for clandestine airstrips in northern Mexico.
As part of his plea deal, López acknowledged his involvement in overseeing the production and trafficking of significant quantities of various drugs, including cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana, and fentanyl into the United States. Fentanyl, which is considerably more potent than heroin, has been identified as the leading cause of death among individuals aged 18 to 45 in the U.S.
This plea occurs amid increasing scrutiny of the Trump administration’s missile strikes targeting alleged drug traffickers at sea, a strategy that the administration argues is necessary to combat drug-related fatalities. While some support the initiative, critics label these actions as extrajudicial killings and suggest they might breach international law.
In a related development, Mexican authorities announced the death of Pedro “Pichon” Inzunza Coronel, a prominent fentanyl trafficker wanted in the U.S., who had been implicated in various serious crimes, according to U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgz28zyp8vo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss