El Chapo's relatives 'surrender to FBI' as drug lord's son 'makes bombshell move'

At least 17 relatives of Mexican drug lord El Chapo are alleged to have crossed the border into the United States as part of a plea deal with one of his sons over drug trafficking charges

A son of imprisoned drug lord El Chapo is claimed to have admitted drug trafficking charges in return for his family moving to the United States. Mystery has surrounded the alleged crossing of at least 17 relatives of the former head of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico, El Chapo, into the United States on May 9.

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum told press that she had no information from the Americans after the family are said to have travelled over the border from Tijuana to San Diego. “There is nothing more than what has come out in the news [...]. The Attorney General’s Office is already requesting that information,” she said.

But it comes just days after El Chapo’s son Ovidio Guzman Lopez confirmed through lawyers that he had agreed to change his plea to guilty after negotiations with the United States authorities.

Mexican investigative journalist Luis Chaparro had revealed on his website Piedenota that at least 17 of El Chapo’s relatives had been seen crossing the border on foot and carrying luggage.

Two of El Chapo’s sons Ovidio Guzman Lopez and Joaquin Guzman Lopez are both facing sweeping drug trafficking charges in the US.

Among those crossing the border is claimed to be Griselda Lopez Perez, who was El Chapo’s second wife. They had four children together including Ovidio Guzman Lopez and Joaquin Guzman Lopez.

Mr Chaparro had photos allegedly showing the relatives crossing the border and said there was at least one sniper overseeing them as they gave themselves up to US authorities. It is said that they may have been given residency in the US in return for a deal agreed by Ovidio Guzman.

Word of a possible deal for Ovidio Guzman Lopez was first disclosed during an October court date last year. It came months after his brother, Joaquin Guzmán López, was arrested in an astonishing capture by US authorities in Texas with Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a longtime leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa Sartel.

Attorneys in January also publicly confirmed plea negotiations had begun for Joaquin Guzmán López.

Zambada had eluded US authorities for years. He was believed to be more involved in daily operations of the cartel than his better-known and flashier partner, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, who was sentenced to life in prison in the US in 2019.

It has been claimed that El Chapo’s son Joaquin was behind the US arrest of Zambada on July 25, 2024, in New Mexico, which has led to a civil war in the Sinaloa Cartel.

Zambada’s attorney claims his client was kidnapped by Joaquin Guzmán López and brought to the US aboard a private plane that landed near El Paso. But the brothers’ defence attorney Jeffrey Lichtman has previously dismissed those claims and also denied any government cooperation.