Latest news with #ElChapo
Scottish Sun
15 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Trainee firefighter, 32, faces the sack after ‘unnerving' boasts about his astonishing former life outside the UK
Greater Manchester Fire Service said they 'moved quickly to investigate' BURNING WORRY Trainee firefighter, 32, faces the sack after 'unnerving' boasts about his astonishing former life outside the UK Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A TRAINEE firefighter has been sacked for boasting he was a former drug cartel hitman. Ali Gonzalez, 32, was six weeks into his basic training course when he was suspended this week. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 Ali Gonzalez was suspended from the fire service amid claims he was a hitman in Mexico Credit: His colleagues in Bury, Manchester, turned web sleuths to find Gonzalez had previously given interviews about his life as a sicario — or hitman. He claimed he worked in Mexico for the feared Sinaloa cartel, featured in Netflix dramas Narcos: Mexico and El Chapo. His boasts included killing dozens of rivals and seeing one gangster beheaded in a jail fight. A source said he had dropped hints to trainees about his past. 'It was unnerving,' they added. Greater Manchester Fire Service said: 'We moved quickly to investigate. Public safety is our top priority.' Gonzalez declined to comment.
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Daily Mirror
Mexican cartels now producing drugs in Europe in 'concerning' global expansion
The European Union Drug Agency (EUDA) and Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) have both warned that Mexican cartels are expanding European operations Mexican cartels - including one established by El Chapo - are expanding operations in Europe, establishing drug production bases that allow them to maintain a constant presence on the continent. Authorities have warned that the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) cartels have cemented a foothold in European nations as part of a new strategy. The "Mexican method", the European Union Drug Agency (EUDA) reports, has seen the groups establish clandestine laboratories and even gain a hand in the training of local chefs. The agency has found their operations becoming more commonplace due to the growing demand for synthetic drugs. READ MORE: Horror as 400 human corpses found inside house of horrors on US-Mexico border In its 2025 report, the organisation warned drug production in Europe has been primarily focused on amphetamine, methamphetamine, synthetic cathinones, MDMA, cocaine and heroin. It identified drug production centres in Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland, and drug developers seem to be extending their roots in the nations. The EUDA flagged a "significant concern" in the report that cocaine production in Europe especially appeared "to be larger and more sophisticated than was previously thought". Investigators also found that production in Europe has been reliant on South American ingredients trafficked to the continent for processing. The report states: "Overall, based on the information available, it appears that large amounts of cocaine hydrochloride are now processed in Europe, mostly in Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain, from intermediary products (coca paste and cocaine base) trafficked from South America." A couple of months before Europol released its report, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) warned in one of its own that Mexican groups were accessing secure drugs distribution routes and taking over logistics operations. The group found cartels contribute expertise, handling and transportation, while local criminal groups are left in charge of distribution, money laundering and protection. Combined, these have allowed criminal groups from Central America to maintain a locally established European foothold. The issue came into sharp focus earlier this year when members of Europol arrested 16 alleged members of a criminal network involved in producing and trafficking synthetic drugs in Marseille, France. The arrests, made with support of French police, apprehended members of a network operating closely with the Sinaloa Cartel and other criminal gangs. They were found to have been operating across Europe in Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands, and notably across the world in New Zealand. The Sinaloa Cartel - established by infamous kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán - is among the most brutal of cartel groups, having recently been embroiled in an "internal cleansing" effort that saw members assassinate their own hitmen.
The Hill
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Mexican president accuses El Chapo's American lawyer of defamation on cartels
Mexico's President, Claudia Sheinbaum, addressed the defamation lawsuit against El Chapo's American lawyer on Tuesday, rejecting his allegations of corruption in her administration. New York attorney Jeffrey Lichtman previously defended three of the cartel leader's sons and said they could detail the government's misconduct under her leadership. 'Moral and political authority is required to govern Mexico, and to be worthy of our people. So, the certainty of that authority — my history speaks for me,' Sheinbaum told reporters on July 15 in response to his claims, according to USA Today. Lichtman told the outlet her 'lawsuit has no teeth' and knocked it as a 'cheap effort to score political points' in a separate post on social media. 'After the plea, I spoke up about what I considered to be absurd remarks made by the president of Mexico about not only my client but the American government for even negotiating a plea deal with him. My response triggered a hastily convened press conference by the Mexican president in which she denied none of my words but claimed I was disrespectful to her office,' he added in the statement. 'Some free advice: don't discuss my clients in a cheap effort to score political points unless you are prepared for my unfiltered response. ' Lichtman is currently representing one of El Chapo's sons, Ovidio Guzmán López, on federal charges. López pleaded guilty to on murder and drug trafficking charges and is expected to help U.S. officials wage a war on narcotics, USA Today reported.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Mexico set to be torn apart as drug kingpin El Chapo's son prepares to tell US prosecutors 'everything he knows'
One of the world's most notorious drug cartel leaders could very well destabilize the Mexico government as he plans to reveal all he knows about corrupt officials. Joaquín ' El Chapo ' Guzmán's son, Ovidio Guzmán López pleaded guilty to two counts of drug conspiracy and two counts of knowingly engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise before a federal judge in Chicago last Friday. The 35-year-old jailed boss, who oversaw the Sinaloa Cartel's 'Los Chapitos' faction, agreed to cooperate with prosecutors who have accused him of distributing drugs and running a criminal enterprise. New York and Illinois federal prosecutors alleged that Guzmán López and his three brothers assumed control of the Sinaloa Cartel once El Chapo was arrested in Mexico in 2016 and then extradited in 2019 to the United States, where he is serving a life sentence at a Colorado super maximum-security prison. The indictments indicated that the transnational drug trafficking organization made hundreds of millions by shipping, producing, and trafficking fentanyl to the United States. Now Guzmán López's mea-culpa could very well open a Pandora's box into the Sinaloa Cartel's dealings with former and current law enforcement and government officials back home in Mexico. His high-profile lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman slammed the Mexican government while talking to reporters after leaving the courtroom. 'It's not so much of a surprise that somehow, for 40 years, the Mexican government, Mexican law enforcement, did nothing to capture who was probably the biggest drug dealer, perhaps in the history of the world,' he said. Lichtman was referring to Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, who co-founded the cartel with El Chapo and had never been arrested until El Chapo's also jailed son, Joaquín Guzmán López, set him up and flew him across the border to Texas, where he turned himself in and El Mayo was captured. 'So what I would say to Pres. Sheinbaum is: perhaps she should look to her predecessors in the president's office and try to figure out why that happened, why there was never any effort to arrest,' the famous criminal lawyer said. 'I don't even know if Zambada has been charged in Mexico.' In an X post on Friday night, Lichtman appeared to take another swipe at Sheinbaum for reportedly shielding criminal organizations. 'Apparently the president of Mexico is displeased with my truthful comments about her corrupt office and government,' Lichtman wrote. 'She can call as many hastily convened press conferences as she likes, but the people of Mexico (and myself) know that she acts more as the public relations arm of a drug trafficking organization than as the honest leader that the Mexican people deserve. I'll have more to say on this shortly.' The war of words spilled over to Tuesday when Sheinbaum filed a defamation law suit against Lichtman. 'I'm not going to establish a dialogue with a lawyer for [a] narco-trafficker,' Sheinbaum said during a press conference. Iván Guzmán Salazar (pictured), is one of El Chapo's sons now leading one-half of the Sinaloa Cartel. The DEA is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction The Drug Enforcement Administration is offering a $10 million reward for information that leads to the arrest and/or conviction of Jesús Guzmán Salazar El Chapo's two other sons, Iván Archivaldo and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán, who are both wanted by the United States government, have hired Lichtman, who has over three decades of experience as a lawyer. Retired Drug Enforcement Administration agent and chief of operations Ray Donovan told that Ovidio's and Joaquín's cooperation could allow for the Mexican government to reorganize itself. 'I think with the potential that Ovidio, Joaquin and others provide information on corrupt politicians and corrupt officials, is an opportunity for Mexico to reset and Sheinbaum is the president to do that,' said Donovan, who took down El Chapo 'So, you can look at it like this is very good, very bad for her party or you can look at it as, "I'm in control now, we want to be strong partners and we want to take Mexico forward not backwards."' 'This is an opportunity for her to do that. Now, the actions she has taken I think have been substantial. And clearly she is very astute, she is different from other presidents, he added. 'The good news about Claudia Sheinbaum, besides the fact that she is highly intelligent, I think that the corruption piece that often surrounds politicians, she doesn't have that. 'So, this is an opportunity to really take Mexico forward under her leadership and partnership with the United States. Regardless of if charges were to come out against politicians, she's taking concrete action forward and I think it's going to be great. I see her as a really, influential leader in the Western Hemisphere. It's not a bad thing.' Ovidio Guzmán López's decision to accept responsibility for his wrongdoing in court last Friday came just two months after 17 family members, including his mother, sister, wife and children, were met by U.S. federal agents at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego and brought across the border. The fact that his brother was able to lure El Mayo made cooperating with the U.S. government easier.
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Case of ‘El Chapo' son cooperating with U.S. prosecutors roils Mexico
MEXICO CITY — A bitter public dispute between Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and the New York lawyer representing a son of drug kingpin Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán has raised speculation here that the deal-seeking scion of the onetime Sinaloa cartel leader may expose corrupt Mexican officials. On Tuesday, Sheinbaum said she had filed a defamation complaint in Mexico against Jeffrey Lichtman, the high-profile attorney representing Ovidio Guzmán López, who last week pleaded guilty in federal court in Chicago to fentanyl trafficking and other crimes. He has agreed to cooperate with U.S. prosecutors in a bid to reduce a potential life sentence. In comments after the court hearing, Lichtman labeled as 'absurd' Sheinbaum's repeated contentions that Washington should coordinate with Mexico on the case — especially if, as is widely expected, Guzmán López spills the beans on alleged ties between Mexican officials and cartels. In an incendiary post on X, Litchman assailed the Mexican leader's 'corrupt office and government' and charged that Sheinbaum 'acts more as the public relations arm of a drug trafficking organization than as the honest leader that the Mexican people deserve.' That sparked a flurry of denunciations from allies in Sheinbaum's ruling Morena bloc, which dominates Mexican politics. Ernestina Godoy Ramos, Sheinbaum's official counsel, labeled Lichtman's comments 'grotesque and unforgivable, breaking the ethical and legal limits of the profession.' Declared Sheinbaum: 'I'm not going to establish a dialogue with a lawyer for [a] narco-trafficker.' Lichtman also represented El Chapo — now serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison in Colorado — and is the attorney for Joaquín Guzmán López, another son of the drug lord. Like his brother, he is in U.S. custody and faces drug smuggling and other charges. El Chapo's sons, known as Los Chapitos, or the 'Little Chapos,' assumed responsibility for cartel dealings after their father's arrest in 2016, prosecutors say. Guzmán López was extradited to the United States in 2023 after being nabbed following a shootout outside Culiacán, the Sinaloa state capital, that left almost two dozen people dead, including 10 Mexican soldiers. Two other sons of El Chapo remain in Mexico directing cartel operations, according to U.S. officials. Behind the nasty contretemps between the New York barrister and la presidenta is a widespread sense here that Guzmán López is poised to dish a mound of dirt about Mexican politicians on the payroll of the Sinaloa cartel. He may have already done so. What else, political observers ask, could explain the special treatment that members of El Chapo's family received in the spring? In May, U.S. authorities escorted 17 members of El Chapo's extended family — including his ex-wife, the mother of Ovidio and Joaquín — into San Diego from Tijuana. Although the U.S. Justice Department declined to comment, Mexico's top law enforcement official said the move was probably part of a cooperation deal between Guzmán López and Washington. 'He [Ovidio] must be singing,' said Guillermo Valdés Castellanos, a former intelligence chief in the administration of former President Felipe Calderón, a political adversary of Sheinbaum. 'I think it's part of a very clear strategy by the government of Donald Trump to pressure Mexico … to take action against the profound links between organized crime and and Mexican politics.' While frequently praising Sheinbaum, Trump has denounced the 'intolerable alliance' between Mexico's government and organized crime. Trump has imposed punishing tariffs on Mexico in what he calls an effort to shut down fentanyl trafficking. Though critics have called Trump's characterizations overblown, the narco-government collaboration in Mexico goes back decades. Calderón's top security official, Genaro García Luna, was convicted of taking millions of dollars in bribes from Sinaloa cartel traffickers and is serving a 38-year U.S. prison sentence. Sheinbaum and her political mentor, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, hailed the U.S. prosecution of García Luna — a case that exposed deep corruption among their political rivals. But the tables may now be turning. There have been no public disclosures about what Guzmán López may be secretly revealing to U.S. prosecutors. But speculation in Mexico has focused on the suspected crookedness of so-called narco-governors serving under the banner of Sheinbaum's dominant Morena political bloc. None have been charged. But even more explosive, experts say, would be any fresh allegations against López Obrador, Sheinbaum's predecessor and the founder of Morena. During his six-year term, López Obrador repeatedly denied unconfirmed reports of having received political donations from people tied to organized crime. By all accounts, any public airing of new accusations against López Obrador from U.S. authorities could trigger a political earthquake in Mexico. 'There is total uncertainty and fear in the presidency,' said José Luis Montenegro, a Mexican journalist who wrote a book on Los Chapitos. 'The politicians of Morena must be trembling.' Sheinbaum has won widespread acclaim for her 'coolheaded' approach to Trump provocations on issues such as tariffs, immigration and drug smuggling. But the Mexican president has sharply rebuked U.S. prosecutors' apparent deal-making intentions with El Chapo's son. She has accused U.S. authorities of hypocrisy — seeking cooperation from Guzmán López at a time when the Trump administration has designated the Sinaloa cartel and other Mexican crime groups as terrorist organizations. 'So where is their position of 'not to negotiate with terrorist groups'?' Sheinbaum asked this month. Mexican leaders are still outraged about what they call the U.S.-orchestrated kidnapping almost a year ago of Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada — co-founder of El Chapo's Sinaloa cartel — who is now also in custody in the United States. Mexican officials suspect that U.S. authorities recruited Joaquín Guzmán López to abduct El Mayo, bundle him into a private plane and fly him to an airfield outside El Paso, where U.S. agents arrested both El Mayo and Joaquín Guzmán López. Washington has never clarified its role in the sensational case. The apparent betrayal of El Mayo set off a civil war in the cartel — pitting El Mayo loyalists against Los Chapitos — that has cost hundreds of lives in Sinaloa state. Now, three top accused Sinaloa cartel capos sit in U.S. custody, and at least one, Guzmán López, appears keen to make a deal that could expose a web of official corruption, roiling Mexican politics. Special correspodent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal contributed to this report.
