Latest news with #OvidioGuzmán
Daily Mail
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Cartel member who oversaw security for El Chapo's sons is killed in shootout with Mexican military
A high-ranking leader Sinaloa Cartel leader who was responsible for the security detail of Joaquín ' El Chapo ' Guzmán's sons was killed in a gun battle with the Mexican military. Jorge 'El Perris' Figueroa was shot dead Friday during a raid at a home in Novolato, a city in the western state of Sinaloa, public safety secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch revealed in an X post. Garcia Harfuch said that a unit of Army soldiers were on the scene to arrest Figueroa when they were greeted with gunfire. Video footage recorded by residents showed military helicopters flying over the area and a soldier lying on the ground and firing at a target. A photo leaked on social media showed Figueroa's lifeless body covered in blood and lying on top of a bed in his home. A member of Figueroa's team, José 'El Chema' Pérez, was also killed the shootout. Renown crime journalist Carlos Jímenez reported that Pérez had been removed from the Mexico City police after he was photographed in January 2021 meeting with Vicente Rodríguez, who at the time was one of the capital's most wanted drug traffickers. Figueroa was described as 'one of the main generators of violence' in the state of Sinaloa was accused of leading the cartel's war-like response in the Sinaloa town of Culiacán against the military and police following the arrest of El Chapo's son, Ovidio Guzmán, in October 2019. The daylight assault left 13 people dead before then- President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador greenlighted Ovidio's release despite an extradition request from the United States. Figueroa was wanted by the United States government, which was offering a $1 million reward for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction. According to the Department of Justice, Figueroa was allegedly in charge of setting up the security details for 'Los Chapitos,' a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel led by El Chapo's fugitive sons, Ivan Guzmán and Jesús Guzmán. Figueroa shared cartel security duties with Nestor 'El Nini' Pérez - who was arrested and extradited to the U.S. on May 25, 2024 - and also oversaw his security and was in charge of coordinating Pérez's fentanyl business. Figueroa and other Sinaloa Cartel members were indicted by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York in April 2023. They were charged with conspiracy to import and traffic fentanyl, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, continuing criminal enterprise and money laundering. Figueroa's death comes three weeks after Ovidio's mother and El Chapo's former wife, his sister and brother-in-law and 14 other family members allegedly presented themselves to federal agents at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. The meeting took place three days after Ovidio entered a change of plea in an Illinois federal court. Video footage showed multiple adults and children holding their luggage as they allegedly met with the FBI - which would be the latest sign that the jailed notorious drug lord's son has flipped on the transnational drug trafficking organization.
CNN
25-05-2025
- CNN
Key cartel member with $1 million US bounty on his head is killed, says Mexican government
Jorge Humberto Figueroa Benítez, identified by the United States government as a key member of the 'Los Chapitos' criminal organization, died during an operation aimed at capturing him in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, the country's Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection Omar García Harfuch said Saturday. The operation against Figueroa Benitez, known by the nickname 'El Perris,' took place in Navolato, 32 kilometers (19 miles) from Culiacán, the state's capital, according to local media. The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was offering up to $1 million for Figueroa Benitez, who was wanted for alleged federal crimes, including conspiracy to import and traffic fentanyl, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and money laundering conspiracy. In 2019, the city of Culiacán was the scene of a violent episode known as the 'Culiacanazo,' which involved violent armed clashes following the temporary capture of Ovidio Guzmán Lopez, one of the sons of Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán. Ovidio was later released by Mexican authorities, arguing that it was to 'save lives.' After being extradited to the US in 2023, Ovidio Guzmán pleaded not guilty to charges of drug trafficking and money laundering, although now, according to court documents reviewed by CNN, he is expected to change that plea. In early May, a US government source told CNN that several of his relatives crossed the border from Mexico into the United States at the San Ysidro port of entry, reportedly as part of an agreement with the US Department of Justice. CNN does not know the whereabouts of these people or whether they entered any witness protection program. CNN has requested comment from US Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Justice.
CNN
25-05-2025
- CNN
Key cartel member with $1 million US bounty on his head is killed, says Mexican government
Jorge Humberto Figueroa Benítez, identified by the United States government as a key member of the 'Los Chapitos' criminal organization, died during an operation aimed at capturing him in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, the country's Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection Omar García Harfuch said Saturday. The operation against Figueroa Benitez, known by the nickname 'El Perris,' took place in Navolato, 32 kilometers (19 miles) from Culiacán, the state's capital, according to local media. The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was offering up to $1 million for Figueroa Benitez, who was wanted for alleged federal crimes, including conspiracy to import and traffic fentanyl, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and money laundering conspiracy. In 2019, the city of Culiacán was the scene of a violent episode known as the 'Culiacanazo,' which involved violent armed clashes following the temporary capture of Ovidio Guzmán Lopez, one of the sons of Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán. Ovidio was later released by Mexican authorities, arguing that it was to 'save lives.' After being extradited to the US in 2023, Ovidio Guzmán pleaded not guilty to charges of drug trafficking and money laundering, although now, according to court documents reviewed by CNN, he is expected to change that plea. In early May, a US government source told CNN that several of his relatives crossed the border from Mexico into the United States at the San Ysidro port of entry, reportedly as part of an agreement with the US Department of Justice. CNN does not know the whereabouts of these people or whether they entered any witness protection program. CNN has requested comment from US Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Justice.
Times
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Times
Seventeen of El Chapo's family enter US in ‘secret cartel deal'
Seventeen relatives of the Mexican drug kingpin Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán were secretly brought into California, seemingly as part of a deal with the White House. El Chapo, who is serving a life sentence at a 'supermax' prison in Colorado, is the co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, which the US government says smuggles enormous amounts of narcotics into the country. Ovidio Guzmán, one of El Chapo's four sons, was extradited to the US in 2023 for allegedly overseeing a faction of the cartel. The arrival of 17 family members in California last week is believed to be part of a deal between him and the Trump administration. Rumours circulated last week that the younger Guzmán would plead guilty to avoid trial for several drug-trafficking charges.
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
America's refusal of world leaders' visas linked to El Chapo's son plea as Trump targets drug cartel connections
Joaquín ' El Chapo ' Guzmán's jailed son is expected to provide telling evidence that would help the United States designate Mexico 's ruling party, Morena, as a narco-organization, a former Mexican official claims. Simón Levy, who served as the Tourism Ministry's deputy secretary under the former President Andres López Obrador, explained in a post on X that Ovidio Guzmán will confirm evidence that will show how the Sinaloa Cartel influenced current and former government officials, including former Presidents Felipe Calderón and Andrés Manuel López Obrador. 'The U.S. State Department and the FBI have already classified the Sinaloa Cartel as a narco-terrorist organization,' Levy wrote. 'And this move is the precursor to an even more disruptive declaration: using the family's testimony to expose the cartel's financial ties to the @PartidoMorenaMx,' sources explained to Levy. 'The goal? To also declare Morena a narco-terrorist organization.' Ovidio Guzmán, who was arrested in Mexico in January 2023 and extradited six months later to the United States, submitted a change of plea last week in an Illinois court and is set to enter a guilty plea July 6. Three days later, he is expected to reveal damaging information that will shake the political structure in Mexico, according to Levy's sources. Levy learned from his insider that Ovidio will provide dollar amounts, drug routes, key dates and deals that were made with the government. Ovidio, who along with his three siblings led the Sinaloa Cartel faction known as 'Los Chapitos,' will also confirm confessions provided by one of Morena's biggest financiers, the late Sergio Carmona and Horacio García, and Jocelyn Hernández, a former Sinaloa state congress member. Carmona, who was executed in November 2024, operated a business that stole petroleum and sold it between Mexico and the United States. 'With that dirty money, he financed political campaigns, especially those of Morena,' Levy said. García allegedly connected Carmona with Tamaulipas Governor, Américo Villarreal, and pumped 'more than $25 million into Morena campaigns in various states.' According to Levy's source, 'Guzmán will validate that confession in court.' Ovidio will also back Hernández's acknowledgement that Carmona also financed the campaign of Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha and that Fausto 'El Chapo Isidro' Meza provided money to Rocha's campaign. During hearing, Ovidio will also signal President Claudia Sheinbaum's spokesperson Jesus Ramírez as 'the key operator and organizer in the distribution of oil money during the campaigns, and [that] he coordinated the flow of resources from Carmona to the Morena campaigns from the National Palace.' Levy explained that Ovidio and his brothers needed 'allied governments, free routes, and official protection' to keep their transnational drug trafficking organization afloat after replacing El Chapo. The change in Ovidio's defense came just three days before 17 family members, including his mother and sister, were allegedly met by the FBI at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego. President Claudia Sheinbaum pressed the administration of President Donald Trump over its decision to permit the arrival of El Chapo's family on U.S. soil. 'They need to explain themselves first,' Sheinbaum said during her press briefing Wednesday. 'We still don't have any official explanation or public details about why this family was permitted entry into the United States.' Senator of the Republic, Ricardo Anaya, who ran for president under the National Action Party in 2018 and lost to Morena's López Obrador in a landslide, warned that members of the latter party may be shaking in their knees. 'There's no doubt that Los Chapitos are going to sing, and we're going to learn a lot of things because the US government doesn't offer immunity in exchange for anything,' Anaya said in a press conference Tuesday. 'It offers it in exchange for information, and this leads me to reiterate my demand that the Mexican government break the pact of impunity now. It can't be that we only learn information about politicians' links to organized crime when another country intervene. 'And of course, there must be many people, particularly from Morena, who are trembling at this moment because there's no doubt these men are going to sing and provide information.' Since then, at least 12 National Regeneration Movement [Morena] politicians and their family members reportedly were stripped of their travel privileges in recent days as part of an ongoing investigations headed by Department of State. News of their visa loss was leaked by the Mexican media and made public by one governor after 17 family members of El Chapo, including his former wife, were seen on camera last Friday waiting at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego. The group is said to have been met by the FBI and escorted to an unknown location. Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar, who's aligned with Morena, came forward Sunday and revealed that she and her husband had their tourists visa taken away. On Monday, Mexican journalist revealed that del Pilar and her spouse were reportedly part of a U.S. federal money laundering investigation that linked them to businessmen, officials and the 'Rusos Cartel.' Del Pilar then followed by addressing reporters and reiterating that she had not committed any crimes and had nothing to hide. On Tuesday, Levy revealed the names of six of the eight Morena officials who were being probed by the Department of Justice and were in the process of having their visas yanked. He named governors Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla [Michoacán]; Miguel Angel Navarro [Nayarit]; Ruben Rocha Moya [Sinaloa]; and Américo Villareal [Tamaulipas]. Also identified were Senator Adan Augusto López and former Congresswoman Clara Luz Flores, who is the director of the Interior Ministry's Religious Affairs and Social Prevention Unit. Levy added that two unnamed former acting secretaries of state were being investigated for 'links' to the Gulf Cartel. 'You're going to see some very high-profile politicians involved in all this,' Levy told 'There are several more, and many more will happen in this matter, because the court has to incriminate them and prove the causal relationship between them and the money they received.' Campeche Governor Layda Sansores is among six governors from the Morena party who are being investigated by the United States and had their visas revoked The office of Governor Villareal responded to the bombshell with a statement on X stating that it was 'false information.' The governor's office followed up with a second statement on the social media network indicating it was 'information that was not confirmed by any authority' while urging the public 'to obtain information through official channels.' reached out to Villareal's office for comment. A report published by El Universal newspaper contained the same names that Levy revealed and included Morena governors Layda Sansores [Campeche] and Samuel García [Nuevo León] and Congressman Ricardo Monreal and Education Secretary Mario Delgado among the officials who are under investigation. Michoacán Governor Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla (right) and Nayarit Governor Miguel Ángel Navarro (left) are allegedly being probed by the United States Department of Justice The outlet found that former Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro is also part of the probe. The office of President Sheinbaum did not respond to request to comment.
