Breaking down reports Trump let 17 Mexican drug cartel family members into US
In early 2025, news outlets reported that, according to a Mexican security chief, American officials allowed 17 drug cartel family members to cross the southern border into the United States — despite U.S. President Donald Trump's public posturing and harsh policies against drug smuggling.
Many of these stories framed the security chief's statement as confirmation that the deal occurred. The Associated Press, for example, wrote that, "Mexico's security chief confirmed Tuesday that 17 family members of cartel leaders crossed into the U.S. last week as part of a deal between a son of the former head of the Sinaloa Cartel and the Trump administration." The Sinaloa cartel is a global criminal enterprise and one of two drug cartels "at the heart" of illicit drug-related dealings in the United States, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
The stories spread on social media platforms like Bluesky, X, Facebook and Reddit. Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, accused Trump of allowing "17 relatives of El Chapo, one of the most notorious cartel drug dealers in the world, into America."
"What kind of message does that send? Who the hell knows? Maybe you got a presidential helicopter from them, who knows," Schumer said in a May 16 Facebook video, referencing Qatar's offer of a Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet to the Trump administration.
It is true that Mexico's security chief, Omar Hamid García Harfuch, said 17 family members of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, who is imprisoned in the United States, crossed into America, apparently confirming reporting from independent journalist Luis Chaparro.
García Harfuch told reporters it looked clear to Mexican authorities that the U.S. Department of Justice granted the family members entry as part of a deal with Guzmán's son, Ovidio Guzmán López, who is also a suspected member of the cartel's leadership. However, until the Trump administration confirms a deal occurred and the details of the purported deal — or documents verifying the deal took place are made public — Snopes cannot put a truthfulness rating on this statement. We reached out to the administration and await a response.
Mexican authorities arrested Guzmán López in 2023 and extradited him to the United States, where the government charged him with various drug trafficking-related offenses; he is expected to plead guilty on July 9, 2025, as part of a plea deal, per court documents filed May 6, 2025 — but details of the deal were not yet public as of this writing.
On May 12, 2025, Chaparro posted a video titled, "LUN 12 MAY | EXCLUSIVA: LA FAMILIA DEL CHAPO SE ENTREGA AL GOBIERNO FEDERAL DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS" on his YouTube channel — translated into English, his video title said: "MON, MAY 12 | EXCLUSIVE: EL CHAPO'S FAMILY SURRENDERS TO THE U.S. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT."
Here's a transcript of his report citing anonymous sources, starting at 2:21, translated into English from Spanish (emphasis ours):
Seventeen members of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán's family, including a daughter and Ovidio Guzmán's mother, surrendered to the FBI this weekend at one of the international bridges between Mexico and the United States.
According to reports from our sources, the family surrendered to the FBI at noon last Friday at the San Ysidro border port in Tijuana. And according to the same sources, among these people are Griselda López, Ovidio's mother, several nephews, a grandson named Archivaldo and a daughter of "El Chapo" along with a son-in-law of the drug trafficker.
It is currently unknown why they surrendered, but the fact that they turned themselves in to agents who were already waiting for them is probably linked to the deal Ovidio Guzmán allegedly made with the United States government last week. The family reportedly arrived with several suitcases, at least two brand-name suitcases for each member, and between them all they were carrying more than 70,000 in cash.
Chaparro also shared pictures of what he alleged were the family members at the border in his report at 3:19 but censored the faces. WMAQ's investigative team in Chicago also reported on May 13, using anonymous federal sources, that "the immigration of 17 Chapo relatives, including a sister, were part of the deal that resulted in Ovidio's guilty plea."
On May 13, Mexican talk radio station Radio Fórmula published an interview with García Harfuch in which the security chief said the transfer of El Chapo's relatives was clearly part of a "negotiation" between the U.S. Justice Department and representatives of Guzmán López.
Here's the interview, translated into English (emphasis ours):
JOURNALIST: How should we read this news, Omar, which is on the front pages of virtually every national newspaper today, about Ovidio Guzmán's family surrendering to the United States authorities, the FBI... 17 people? Were the facts as reported, and if so, where does this decision come from, or are they colluding with the United States? How should we read it, Omar?
GARCÍA HARFUCH: I think it's very clear that when — it's very clear that when Ovidio — we must first highlight who detained Ovidio. He was arrested by Mexican authorities in a Mexican army operation where fellow special forces soldiers were killed. Once the Mexican army arrested Ovidio, Mexico handed him over... extradited him to the United States. Ovidio, as we all saw on the news, began negotiations with the United States Department of Justice, and it's clear that since his family was leaving for the United States, it was because of this negotiation or an opportunity that the Department of Justice itself granted him. Let's also remember that this conflict in Sinaloa is understood to be an issue between the brothers themselves, and includes Ovidio and Ovidio's brothers, where they pointed fingers at other groups in the criminal organization, and it's clear that this is what's happening.
JOURNALIST: So is it an agreement between a defendant in the United States and the authority that is prosecuting him?
GARCÍA HARFUCH: That's right.
[…]
JOURNALIST: The 17 people, with the information you have — the 17 people who left were Mexican citizens who didn't have an arrest warrant. They were exercising their freedom to cross into the United States.
GARCÍA HARFUCH: That's right, and [authorities] were already waiting for them in the United States.
As such, per García Harfuch, the family members did not appear to "surrender" to authorities, as no warrants were out for their arrest, but voluntarily crossed into the United States. It's unclear if the family members were under some sort of protective custody; their whereabouts, as of this writing, were unknown.
Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, called on the Trump administration to provide more information on why the cartel family members entered the United States during a May 14 news conference and said the United States did not alert Mexican authorities ahead of time about the alleged deal.
An excerpt from her comments are translated into English below:
We don't have official or public information that says why this family entered. We must recall the issue of extradition again, and yes, indeed, it is — there is a policy of [the U.S.] not to negotiate with terrorists. It was their decision to name some organized crime organizations [like the Sinaloa Cartel] as terrorists.
So, let them report if there's an agreement or if there isn't an agreement... they have to report it and they have to explain this to the people of the United States as well... how it is that, if they're reaching an agreement, how they're doing it. And to Mexico, obviously.
Multiple news outlets reported that U.S. prosecutors and authorities declined to comment on the reported deal, including the Los Angeles Times, which also said the news outlet sent Guzmán Lopez's attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman a message, and did not receive a response. Snopes reached out to DOJ and Lichtman as well and await a response.
Thus, while the evidence indicates that the Trump administration may have made a deal with a suspected Sinaloa cartel drug lord, Ovidio Guzmán López, to bring 17 of his family members into the United States, many details remain unclear, making it impossible to rate this claim.
Snopes reporters Anna Rascouët-Paz and Jack Izzo contributed to the translations in this report.
Coleman, Sharon Johnson. "UNITED STATES of AMERICA v. OVIDIO GUZMAN LOPEZ | NOTIFICATION of DOCKET ENTRY." CourtListener, 6 May 2025, storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ilnd.230809/gov.uscourts.ilnd.230809.1057.0.pdf. Accessed 16 May 2025.
Drug Enforcement Administration. "National Drug Threat Assessment 2024 ." Https://Www.dea.gov, May 2024, www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2024-05/5.23.2024%20NDTA-updated.pdf. Accessed 16 May 2025.
El Universal. "🗣️ 'Tienen Que Informar', Señala La Presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum Sobre El Ingreso de Familiares de Ovidio Guzmán, Hijo de 'El Chapo', a EU; Aseguró Que No Tiene Información Oficial al Respecto Y Recordó Que Hay Investigaciones En Curso Sobre Ese Caso." X (Formerly Twitter), 14 May 2025, x.com/El_Universal_Mx/status/1922671340277878840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1922671340277878840%7Ctwgr%5E85c6b1f1d1527f2462eb988221d1b874a65c5ab4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmexiconewsdaily.com%2Fpolitics%2Fsheinbaum-demands-us-inform-el-chapo-family-border-crossing-wednesdays-mananera-recapped%2F. Accessed 16 May 2025.
Goudie, Chuck. "El Chapo Family Defects from Mexico in Deal Linked to Chicago Drug Case." NBC Chicago, 13 May 2025, www.nbcchicago.com/investigations/el-chapo-family-defects-from-mexico-in-deal-linked-to-chicago-drug-case/3744795/. Accessed 16 May 2025.
"Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, Sinaloa Cartel Leader, Sentenced to Life in Prison plus 30 Years." Justice.gov, 17 July 2019, www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/joaquin-el-chapo-guzman-sinaloa-cartel-leader-sentenced-life-prison-plus-30-years. Accessed 16 May 2025.
McDonnell, Patrick J. "Were 17 Members of El Chapo's Family Escorted into U.S. From Mexico?" Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2025, www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-05-13/were-17-members-of-el-chapo-guzmans-family-escorted-into-usa-from-mexico. Accessed 16 May 2025.
PIE DE NOTA | Con Luis Chaparro. "LUN 12 MAY | EXCLUSIVA: LA FAMILIA DEL CHAPO SE ENTREGA al GOBIERNO FEDERAL de LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS." YouTube, 12 May 2025, www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwUxktADEcs. Accessed 16 May 2025.
Radio Fórmula . "EXCLUSIVA 🚨 Omar García Harfuch Explica La Entrega de La Familia de Ovidio Guzmán al FBI: "Es Evidente Que al Estarse Yendo Su Familia a EU Es Por El Criterio de Oportunidad Que El Departamento de Justicia Le Da. ☝️Recordemos Que El Conflicto En Sina…." Facebook.com, 13 May 2025, www.facebook.com/watch/?v=998925828895324. Accessed 16 May 2025.
Santucci, Jeanine. "Family Members of Drug Lord El Chapo Enter US, Mexican Officials Say." USA TODAY, 14 May 2025, www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/05/14/el-chapo-family-enter-united-states/83619614007/. Accessed 16 May 2025.
"Son of Joaquin Guzman Loera Aka 'El Chapo' Arraigned on Federal Criminal Charges Following His Extradition from Mexico to the United States for International Drug Trafficking." Justice.gov, 18 Sept. 2023, www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/son-joaquin-guzman-loera-aka-el-chapo-arraigned-federal-criminal-charges-following-his. Accessed 16 May 2025.
Staff, MND. "Sheinbaum Demands Answers on 'El Chapo' Family's Entry to US: Wednesday's Mañanera Recapped." Mexico News Daily, 14 May 2025, mexiconewsdaily.com/politics/sheinbaum-demands-us-inform-el-chapo-family-border-crossing-wednesdays-mananera-recapped/. Accessed 16 May 2025.
Trump, Donald J. "Designating Cartels and Other Organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists – the White House." The White House, 21 Jan. 2025, www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/designating-cartels-and-other-organizations-as-foreign-terrorist-organizations-and-specially-designated-global-terrorists/. Accessed 16 May 2025.
Yuhas, Alan. "Cartel Family Members Cross Border in Apparent Deal with U.S., Official Says." New York Times, 14 May 2025, www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/world/americas/mexico-cartel-chapo-family.html. Accessed 16 May 2025.
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