In Mexico, they are known as “chapitos,” Joaquín Guzmán López the Younger and his brother Ovidio Guzmán López, who are accused of running a branch of the infamous Sinaloa Cartel.
Federal authorities in 2023 described their operation as a massive attempt to flood the United States with “shocking” amounts of fentanyl.
Joaquín Guzmán López pleaded guilty in a Chicago court on Monday to two counts of drug trafficking and involvement in organized crime.
The admission came as part of a plea deal with the prosecution and means that he admits that he participated in overseeing the production and smuggling of large quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana and fentanyl into the United States.
He was arrested along with Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, another drug lord, when they landed in Texas on a private plane last year. Zambada pleaded guilty in August of this year.
The brother of Joaquín Guzmán López, Ovidio Guzmán López, also reached an agreement with the judiciary in July.
The father, Guzmán the Elder, was arrested in 2016 and sentenced to life in prison in the United States in 2019.
