Son of Mexico's 'El Chapo' pleads guilty in US drugs case
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a day ago
- DW
Mexico: Veracruz prison riot leaves 7 dead – DW – 08/04/2025
The spiraling unrest at the Tuxpan prison in eastern Mexico led to state forces intervening to restore order. Inmates were reportedly angered by the Grupo Sombra criminal organization operating in the prison facility. A prison riot in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz led to 7 people dead and 11 others wounded, regional authorities said Sunday. The riot broke out at the Taxpan prison in the city of the same name. Videos circulating on social media showed fires at the penal facility and plumes of smoke rising from the prison grounds. "As a result of the riot, we report the tragic deaths of seven inmates and 11 injured people," the Department of Public Security of Veracruz said in a statement. Police and security forces intervened to quell the unrest at the prison. The riot reportedly broke out on Saturday after inmates expressed anger over extortion and abuse by members of the Grupo Sombra criminal organization at the prison. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A 2012 report by Mexico's human rights commission found that six out of 10 Mexican prisons are controlled by either prison gangs or drug cartels. Mexican prisons also face other issues such as overcrowding and corruption. The Tuxpan prison had 778 inmates in June, exceeding the 735 prisoners it was designed to hold. According to Mexican newspaper , Grupo Sombra made its first public appearance in 2017, when its hitmen gave frozen turkeys and soda to residents in Veracruz for Christmas that year. Armed masked men forced women to smile for the camera and men had to give a thumbs up in a photo posted online to show gratitude for the "gift." More recently, Grupo Sombra was linked to the femicide of a 65-year-old retired teacher in July. reported that Grupo Sombra consider themselves a splinter group of the Gulf Cartel, and that they aim to fight the Los Zetas syndicate and Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in Veracruz. Grupo Sombra also claim to engage in social work that the Mexican government doesn't do.
DW
21-07-2025
- DW
Ecuador drug lord 'Fito' extradited to US – DW – 07/21/2025
Adolfo "Fito" Macias, the notorious Ecuadorian drug baron who escaped from jail in 2024 but was recaptured last month, has been extradited to the United States to face trial. Notorious Ecuadorian drug trafficker Adolfo "Fito" Macias was extradited to the United States on Sunday where he has been indicted on charges of cocaine distribution, conspiracy and firearms violations, including weapons smuggling. A photograph released by Ecuador's government agency responsible for prisons, the SNAI, showed Macias being guarded by several police officers at an undisclosed location, wearing a t-shirt, shorts, bulletproof vest and helmet. In a statement to reporters, the SNAI said the 45-year-old was removed from custody at a maximum security prison in Ecuador's southwest "for the purposes that correspond to the extradition process." He is due to appear before a federal court in Brooklyn, New York, on Monday. His lawyer, Alexei Schacht, told the Associated Press (AP) that his client "will plead not guilty." After that, he will be detained in a yet-to-be-determined location, Schacht added. Macias' extradition comes one month after he was recaptured following a January 2024 escape from a maximum security penitentiary in the southwestern port city of Guayaquil, where he had been serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking, organized crime and murder. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Following his escape, President Daniel Noboa declared Ecuador to be in a state of "internal armed conflict" and ordered the military into the streets in a move that was criticized by human rights organizations. As part of a large-scale military and police search operation and amid widespread violence, the government produced "wanted" posters offering up to $1 million for information leading to Macias' arrest. Last month, on June 25, he was found hiding in a bunker concealed under floor tiles in a luxury home in the fishing port of Manta, the home of his notorious "Los Choneros" gang. "We will gladly send him and let him answer to the North American law," President Noboa told CNN at the time. "The sooner the better." His extradition marks the first ever time that the Ecuadorian government has extradited one of its citizens to a foreign country. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A former taxi driver turned crime boss, Macias has been in charge of "Los Choneros" since 2020. According to the US indictment, the gang employs people to buy firearms and ammunition in the United States and smuggles them into Ecuador, while cocaine would flow in the opposite direction with the help of Mexican cartels. Once a peaceful haven between the world's two top cocaine exporters Colombia and Peru, more than 70 percent of all cocaine produced worldwide now passes through Ecuador's ports, according to government data. According to the Ecuadorian Organized Crime Observatory, "Los Choneros" maintains ties to Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, Colombia's Gulf Clan – the world's largest cocaine exporter – and various mafia organizations in the Balkans. In 2024, Ecuadorian authorities seized a record 294 tons of drugs, mainly cocaine. Despite, or perhaps as a result of, his criminal activities, Macias enjoys a cult status among fellow gang members across Ecuador, and even among parts of the public. Before escaping from prison, he would throw lavish jail parties featuring alcohol and cockfighting matches. In 2023, he even released a video addressed to "the Ecuadorian people" while flanked by armed men. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
DW
12-07-2025
- DW
Son of Mexico's 'El Chapo' pleads guilty in US drugs case
Ovidio Guzman Lopez, a son of imprisoned former Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, pleaded guilty to four drug trafficking charges. Guzman Lopez was facing a maximum of life in prison.
