MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s security chief confirmed on Tuesday that 17 family members of cartel leaders entered the U.S. last week as part of an agreement between a son of the former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel and the Trump administration.
Mexican Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch confirmed a report by independent journalist Luis Chaparro that the family of Ovidio Guzman Lopez, who was extradited to the United States in 2023, had entered the U.S.
Guzmán Lopez is one of the brothers still leading a group of the Sinaloa Cartel after the famous leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was sent to prison in the U.S. Video showed the family members walking over the border from Tijuana with their suitcases to meet U.S. agents.
Last week, there were rumors that the younger Guzmán would plead guilty to avoid going to trial for several drug trafficking charges in the U.S. after being sent back in 2023.
García Harfuch confirmed in a radio interview that family members crossed over and noted that Mexican authorities knew this was happening after talks between Guzmán López and the U.S. government.
He thought this was true because the former cartel leader, whose lawyer claimed in January he was talking to U.S. authorities, had been blaming members of other criminal groups, probably as part of a deal to help.
“It’s clear that his family is going to the U.S. because of a deal or offer from the Department of Justice,” said Garcia Harfuch.
He stated that no family members were being chased by Mexican authorities and that the U.S. government under President Donald Trump “has to share information” with Mexican prosecutors, which it has not done yet.
García Harfuch’s confirmation comes on the same day that the U.S. Attorney General’s Office announced it is charging several top cartel leaders with “narcoterrorism.” This is the first time since the Trump administration labeled certain cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
Prosecutors didn’t say anything about the video of the family, but U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon for the Southern District of California and other officials warned cartel members, specifically mentioning the Sinaloa Cartel several times.
“To be clear, leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, you are no longer the ones chasing others; now, you are the ones being chased.” “You will be let down by your friends, pursued by your enemies, and in the end, you will find yourself in a courtroom in the Southern District of California,” Gordon said.