Seventeen family members of Ovidio Guzmán López, son of imprisoned drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, crossed the U.S. border last week in what Mexican officials described as part of a negotiated agreement with the Trump administration. Mexico's Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch confirmed the crossings during a radio interview on Tuesday, following earlier reporting by independent journalist Luis Chaparro.
Video footage appeared to show members of the Guzmán family walking across the border from Tijuana, carrying suitcases and being received by U.S. agents. García Harfuch stated, "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."
Guzmán López, also known as "El Ratón," was extradited to the United States in 2023 to face multiple drug trafficking charges. Rumors have circulated that he may plead guilty in exchange for leniency and cooperation with U.S. authorities. His attorney previously confirmed that negotiations were underway with federal prosecutors.
García Harfuch said the family members were not wanted by Mexican law enforcement and added that the U.S. government "has to share information" with Mexican prosecutors, but has yet to do so. "It was clear to Mexican authorities that they were doing so after negotiations between Guzmán López and the U.S. government," he said.
The confirmation came the same day U.S. prosecutors unveiled a sweeping legal offensive against the Sinaloa Cartel. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California filed new narco-terrorism charges, marking the first such use of the designation since the Trump administration labeled several Mexican 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," U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said at a press conference. "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."
The U.S. Justice Department has intensified its pursuit of El Chapo's heirs, known collectively as "Los Chapitos," including Ovidio Guzmán and Joaquin Guzmán López. Prosecutors allege the brothers ran one of the world's most sophisticated fentanyl production networks and committed acts of extreme violence, including torture and feeding victims to tigers.
A 2023 DOJ indictment accuses the group of shipping vast quantities of cocaine, fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana into the U.S. Joaquin Guzmán López was reportedly arrested last year upon arriving in the U.S. aboard a private aircraft with longtime cartel figure Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who claimed he had been kidnapped.
El Chapo himself is currently serving a life sentence in a Colorado supermax prison after being convicted in 2019 on multiple charges, including drug trafficking and weapons offenses. In 2023, he sent a plea to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, claiming he was experiencing "psychological torment" in U.S. custody.
