El Chapo’s son Ovidio Guzman Lopez denies claims he moved huge Mexican cartel toward fentanyl production
The son of infamous drug lord “El Chapo” has appeared in court for the first time since being extradited to the US from Mexico.
Ovidio Guzman Lopez denied drug and money laundering when he appeared at a Chicago court on Monday – three days after he was brought to the US.
Guzman Lopez, 33, and his three brothers – collectively known as “Los Chapitos” – inherited their father’s empire after he was convicted of murder and drug charges in 2019.
Joaquin Guzman, commonly known as El Chapo, is the former leader of the notorious Sinaloa cartel. He was sentenced to life in prison and is serving his sentence at “super-max” jail in Colorado.
The brothers inherited their father’s multibillion-dollar empire when he was incarcerated, allegedly steering it into synthetic drugs including methamphetamine and the powerful opioid fentanyl, which has been blamed for killing almost 200 people in the US every day.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Who are the Mexican drug cartels?
Guzman Lopez, known as “The Mouse”, and his siblings were all indicted by US prosecutors in April amid claims they produced huge amounts of fentanyl and sold the drug at its lowest price.
They operated a huge international trafficking operation that saw drugs transported to the US via airplane, submarines, fishing boats and rail cars, bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars in profits, it is alleged.
The brothers all deny the allegations and claim they are the “victims of persecution” and “scapegoats”.
“We have never produced, manufactured or commercialised fentanyl nor any of its derivatives,” they said in a statement.
“El Chapo” pictured in New York in January 2017, shortly after his extradition to the US
The extradition of Guzman Lopez is “testament to the significance of the ongoing co-operation between the American and Mexican governments on countering narcotics and other vital challenges,” US Homeland Security advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall said.
Guzman Lopez was captured by Mexican security forces in Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state, in northwest Mexico, in January.
Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts
His arrest sparked a wave of violence leading to the deaths of 30 people, including 10 military personnel, with the Mexican army deploying Black Hawk helicopter gunships in a shoot-out against the cartel’s truck-mounted 50-caliber machine guns.
Cartel gunmen hit two military aircraft, forcing them to land.
Read more:
Officer who arrested El Chapo’s son killed in hail of bullets
Mexico to close prison El Chapo escaped from
They also sent gunmen to the city’s airport, where both military and civilian aircraft were targeted.
Officials attempted to detain Guzman Lopez in Culiacan in 2019 but were forced to abandon their operation after similar violence unfolded.
Security forces outside the Altiplano high security prison in Mexico where Guzman Lopez was held after his arrest in January
Mexico’s President Andrez Manuel Lopez Obrador personally ordered his release after hundreds of cartel members overwhelmed security forces.
El Chapo escaped prison in Mexico twice before he was finally arrested and extradited to the US in 2017, ahead of his conviction at a federal court in Brooklyn.
Emma Coronel Aispuro, the wife of drug lord “El Chapo” Joaquin Guzman, pictured after his trial in 2019
His wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, was released from US custody last week after serving less than two years behind bars.
The 34-year-old is said to have helped to plan her husband’s escape from prison in 2015, which involved digging a tunnel underneath a jail.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has been linked to a second group chat about sensitive military operations, which he reportedly shared with his wife, brother and personal lawyer.
The messages sent via the Signal messaging app are again understood to have contained details of an attack on Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis in March.
The second chat group, initially reported by The New York Times, included about a dozen people. It revealed details of the schedule of the airstrikes, according to the Reuters news agency.
Two sources with knowledge of the matter told Sky News’ US partner network NBC News there were 13 people in the second chat group, and Mr Hegseth divulged the information despite an aide warning him about using an unsecure communications system.
Mr Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, a former Fox News producer, has attended sensitive meetings with foreign military counterparts, while his brother was hired at the Pentagon as a Department of Homeland Security liaison and senior adviser.
Military details from the first chat group were revealed by a journalist from The Atlantic magazine who was accidentally added to the Signal app by national security adviser Mike Waltz.
Mr Hegseth then shared sensitive information with cabinet officials about last month’s airstrike on targets in Yemen, which was later leaked.
Read more from Sky News:
What is Signal?
Who is Pete Hegseth?
Mike Waltz (left) and Pete Hegseth (right) have used Signal to discuss sensitive government matters. Pic: AP
‘A non-story,’ says White House
But the White House has consistently defended Mr Hegseth.
Donald Trump dismissed the original leak as “something that can happen”.
Responding to the latest chat group, White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said: “No matter how many times the legacy media tries to resurrect the same non-story, they can’t change the fact that no classified information was shared.
“Recently-fired ‘leakers’ are continuing to misrepresent the truth to soothe their shattered egos and undermine the President’s agenda, but the administration will continue to hold them accountable.”
The “leakers” referred to in the White House statement are four senior officials who were ousted from the Pentagon last week as part of an internal leak investigation.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Leaked war plans: ‘Fairly serious’
‘Hegseth put lives at risk’
The New York Times reported that the second chat – named “Defence | Team Huddle” – was created on Mr Hegseth’s private phone.
It detailed the same warplane launch times as the first chat.
Several former and current officials have said sharing those operational details before a strike would have certainly been classified, and their release could have put pilots in danger.
Democratic politicians have repeatedly called for Mr Hegseth to step down.
“We keep learning how Pete Hegseth put lives at risk,” Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said in a post on X.
“But [Donald] Trump is still too weak to fire him. Pete Hegseth must be fired.”
The latest claims about Mr Hegseth emerged as Yemen’s Houthi rebels reported another wave of US airstrikes on Sunday, including on the capital Sanaa.
The Houthis said at least 12 people had been killed, with 30 more injured.
The US says its bombing campaign is in response to Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes.
DHL Express is suspending some shipments to the US as Donald Trump’s new tariff regime takes effect.
From 21 April, shipments worth more than $800 (£603) to US consumers from “any origin” will be temporarily suspended.
New rules that came into effect at the start of April made such shipments subject to increased customs checks.
“This change has caused a surge in formal customs clearances, which we are handling around the clock,” said the parcel delivery service.
Shipments going from business to business worth more than $800 aren’t affected by the suspension, but DHL warned they may also face delays.
Shipments under $800 to either businesses or consumers are not impacted, but one British cycle manufacturer suggested its US customers may need to split orders over $800 into “smaller shipments” to avoid the red tape.
Read more:
The art of doing a deal with Trump
Is there method to Trump’s madness?
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Trump: Tariffs are making US ‘rich’
Trump targeting ‘deceptive’ practices
From May, shipments from China and Hong Kong that are worth less than $800 “will be subject to all applicable duties”, according to the White House.
“President Trump is targeting deceptive shipping practices by Chinese-based shippers, many of whom hide illicit substances, including synthetic opioids, in low-value packages,” it said in a statement.
Until now, deliveries worth less than $800 didn’t incur any duties, which allowed low-cost companies Chinese like Shein and Temu to make inroads in the US.
Both have warned their prices will now rise because of the rule changes, starting on 25 April.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway