U.S. OFFERS $5 MILLION REWARD FOR INFORMATION ON EL CHAPO’S SONS
Known as ‘Los Chapitos,’ the men control a large faction of the Sinaloa drug cartel
The United States government announced this week a $5 million reward for information that could lead to the capture of any of the four sons of jailed drug kingpin Joaquín Guzmán, commonly known as “El Chapo.”
The sons — Jesus Alfredo Guzman-Salazar, Ovidio Guzmán López, Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar and Joaquín Guzmán López — are collectively called Los Chapitos. They are believed to control a large faction of the powerful Sinaloa cartel that is currently driving up homicide numbers in the northern border cities of Tijuana and Mexicali.
“All four are high-ranking members of the Sinaloa Cartel and are each subject to a federal indictment for their involvement in the illicit drug trade,” according to the announcement of the reward by the U.S. State Department.
One of the sons is facing indictment in San Diego. Iván Archivaldo Guzmán
Salazar, 37, is accused of importing large quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine and other drugs, as well as their chemical precursors, into Mexico from Asia and Central and South American countries including Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras and Guatemala.
The 2015 indictment alleges the traffickers used various methods to move the drugs, including cargo aircraft, private aircraft, submarines, container ships, fishing vessels, buses, rail cars, tractor trailers and automobiles.
Large quantities of drugs were then smuggled across the international border to San Diego via automobiles, tractor trailers, trucks, fishing vessels and tunnels and stored at various stash houses, safe houses and warehouses in San Diego County. From there they were distributed to other locations throughout the U.S., according to the federal indictment.
Los Chapitos have been increasingly active in Baja California, starting at the beginning of 2021, and have caused an upsurge of violence in Mexicali as their faction battles for control of the eastern region of the state. The group has taken on another criminal group, known as “Los Mayos,” that also has deep ties to the Sinaloa cartel.
Mexicali, on the other side of the border from Calexico, has seen an increase of about 30 percent in homicides this year compared to 2020, as the two factions fight each other and another cartel, according to recent figures released by state authorities.
In June, the tranquil Baja seaside port of San Felipe erupted with high-caliber machine gunfire as the “Los Chapitos” group took aim at a group of suspected totoaba traffickers. In broad daylight on a Sunday afternoon, steps from a state Criminal Justice Center, the group gunned down five fishermen in front of dozens of tourist onlookers.
The faction is hoping to secure a coastal route from
San Felipe up along the Gulf of California to traffic illicit fentanyl and other drugs into the United States, according to law enforcement sources and court documents on both sides of the border.
In October 2019, the disastrous failed attempt to arrest one of El Chapo’s sons, Ovidio Guzmán, became an international embarrassment for Mexico. Cartel henchmen unleashed hell in Culiacán, a city in northwestern Mexico inland from the Gulf of California. Clouds of black smoke billowed from burning vehicles as armed men blocked roads and overwhelmed the government security forces who arrested Ovidio. Citizens fled for their lives while a fierce gunbattle played out in the streets, resulting in victory for the cartel and Ovidio’s release.
Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Thursday the government is committed to capturing “Los Chapitos.” Following the U.S. announcement of the rewards, López Obrador defended the decision to release Ovidio in 2019, saying he did not want more people to lose their lives.
“If we did well or did wrong, history will tell. I was the one who made the decision to stop the operation,” López Obrador said at a news conference.