Mexican Drug Lord El Chapo's Ex-Wife Among Relatives Who Surrendered To US: Report
At least 17 relatives of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera crossed the US border as part of a secret plea agreement with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials, multiple reports said. The group, which turned themselves in to the FBI at the border between Tijuana/San Diego, included the ex-wife of the notorious former Sinaloa drug cartel boss and their daughter, Mexico News Daily reported.
The surrender is reportedly tied to a secret plea deal with the US government in connection with the case against El Chapo's son, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, also known as "El Raton" or "The Mouse."
On Monday, journalist Luis Chaparro said on his online programme, Pie de Nota, that Griselda and a daughter of Guzman were among those who crossed into the United States.
"According to the reports from our sources, the family turned themselves in to the FBI at midday last Friday at the San Ysidro port of entry in Tijuana. According to the information from the same sources, among these people are Griselda Lopez, mother of Ovidio, several nephews and nieces, a grandson by the name of Archivaldo, and a daughter of Chapo, together with a son-in-law," the journalist was quoted as saying by the Mexico News Daily.
Mr Chaparro added it was unclear why the family members handed themselves in to the FBI.
Speaking with the Spanish-language outlet Radio Formula on Wednesday, Mexican Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch said, "It's clear that with his family going to the United States, it's connected to this negotiation or plea deal opportunity provided by the Department of Justice itself."
Ovidio was extradited to the US in September 2023, eight months after being apprehended in a huge operation by heavily armed Mexican police that left 29 dead. Lopez, 35, one of the four El Chapo's sons, was charged with drug trafficking, money laundering and other counts. His plea hearing is scheduled for July 9.
Griselda Lopez Perez and her relatives reportedly carried more than US$ $70,000 in cash when they crossed the border. "This act of getting his family to safety could be a sign that Los Chapitos might be losing the war in Sinaloa or that the war is going to get a lot worse," Chaparro added.
The terms of the potential plea offer and its connection to the family's arrival in the US have not been disclosed by US prosecutors, The New York Post reported.
The elder Guzman was arrested and extradited to the United States in 2017, where he was eventually convicted of narcotics trafficking, money laundering, and other counts and sentenced to life in prison.
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