Ovidio Guzmán López
Ovidio Guzmán López (born 29 March 1990),[4][5][6][7] commonly known as "El Ratón" or "El Nuevo Ratón" ("The Mouse" or "The New Mouse"), is a Mexican suspected drug lord and high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal group based in Sinaloa. He is the son of infamous drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, once considered Mexico's most-wanted drug lord and the world's most-wanted criminal.
Ovidio Guzmán López | |
---|---|
Born | Ovidio Guzmán López 29 March 1990 Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico |
Nationality | Mexican |
Other names | El Ratón El Nuevo Ratón |
Organization | Sinaloa Cartel (suspected)[1] |
Parent(s) | Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, Griselda López Pérez[2] |
Wanted by | FGR FBI, DEA[3] |
Career
Guzmán López is a son of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. He has been involved in his father's drug trafficking business since he was a teenager, and has taken a prominent role of the Sinaloa Cartel after his father's arrest.[8][9] He is thought to lead the cartel along with his brothers Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, Jesús Alfredo Guzmán, and Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada,[1] so on May 8, 2012, Ovidio Guzmán was sanctioned pursuant to the US Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act).[10][11]
In February 2019, US authorities charged Ovidio Guzmán with conspiracy to import and distribute illegal drugs.[12] Following an arrest warrant issued by a federal judge in Washington, DC for his arrest and extradition,[3][8] Ovidio Guzmán López was briefly arrested in Culiacán, Sinaloa, by members of the Mexican National Guard on 17 October 2019, setting off several gun battles in the city.[13]
Heavily armed[14][15] cartel gunmen (numbering over 700) threatened mass civilian deaths,[16][17] including an attack to the apartment complex housing the relatives of the local military personnel.[18][19][20] Hours later, Ovidio Guzmán was freed,[21] with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador saying he supported the decision in order to "prevent more bloodshed".[22][23][24] The next month, however, one of the officers who arrested Ovidio, identified as Eduardo N., was assassinated.[25][26]
On May 8, 2020, Santiago Nieto, head of Mexico's Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF), confirmed that the Government of Mexico froze millionaire accounts for Ovidio Guzmán, stating “We frozen Ovidio's accounts and 330 people linked to the cartel and we have filed the complaint with the Prosecutor's Office. We have also found strange things."[27] On May 30, 2020, cartel expert and former US federal marshal Robert Almonte claimed to the Daily Star that there were "credible reports" that Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, leader of the rival Jalisco New Generation Cartel, recruited hired guns known as “Los 28” to track down and kill Ovidio and his two brothers, Ivan Archivaldo and Jesus Alfredo.[28][29] On June 24, 2020, it was revealed that El Chapo's sons now had the most influence over the Sinaloa Cartel, as Zambada was now "sick with diabetes."[30]
See also
References
- Villarreal, Andrés; Verza, María (18 October 2019). "Gun battles rattle Mexican city after troops find Chapo's son". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
- "Las mujeres, el talón de Aquiles de 'El Chapo' Guzmán" [Women, the Achilles' heel of 'El Chapo' Guzman]. Excélsior (in Spanish). 22 February 2014. Archived from the original on 24 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
- Saul, Emily; Bowden, Ebony (18 October 2019). "Botched mission to capture El Chapo's son sparked by DC judge". New York Post. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
- "¿Quién es Ovidio Guzmán López, el hijo de "El Chapo"?". La Razón (in Spanish). 17 October 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- "Ovidio Guzmán: de "niño bien" a narco". Milenio (in Spanish). 30 October 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- "En su visita a Badiraguato, AMLO saludó a la mamá del Chapo Guzmán" (in Spanish). Aristegui Noticias. 29 March 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- Linthicum, Kate (19 October 2019). "Did jailing 'El Chapo' matter? In seizing a city, the Sinaloa cartel shows it's still strong". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 20 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
- Ahmed, Azam (18 October 2019). "The Stunning Escape of El Chapo's Son: It's Like 'a Bad Netflix Show'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
- "What we know about El Chapo's son Ovidio Guzmán López". The Washington Post. 18 October 2019. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
- "Treasury Targets Leading Figures of Sinaloa Cartel". United States Department of the Treasury. 8 May 2012. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
- "US blacklists sons of Mexico drug lord Joaquin Guzman". BBC News. 9 May 2019. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
- Chapell, Bill (17 July 2019). "Mexican Drug Kingpin 'El Chapo' Is Sentenced To Life Plus 30 Years In U.S. Prison". NPR. Archived from the original on 11 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
- "Detienen a hijo del "Chapo" Guzmán en Sinaloa" [Son of "El Chapo" Guzman arrested in Sinaloa]. Proceso (in Spanish). 17 October 2019. Archived from the original on 18 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
- Grillo, Joan (18 October 2019). "How the Sinaloa Cartel Bested the Mexican Army". Time. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
- "Durante operativo en Culiacán, sicarios atacaron unidad habitacional militar". Uno TV (in Spanish). October 30, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
- Monroy, Jorge (October 20, 2019). "Y la entidad, con al menos 8,000 soldados, policías y de la GN". El Economista (in Spanish). Retrieved December 12, 2019.
- Vizcarra, Marcos (21 October 2019). "Suman 14 muertos por balaceras en Culiacán" (in Spanish). Reforma.
- Hamilton, Keegan (17 October 2019). "El Chapo's Son Was Just Captured — Then Freed After the Cartel Attacked". Vice News. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
- Garcia, David Alire (22 October 2019). "In Mexico, El Chapo's sons add brash new chapter to crime family". Reuters. Archived from the original on 26 October 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
- Bonello, Deborah (18 October 2019). "'Arrest' of drug king pin El Chapo's son sparks fierce gun battle in Mexico". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
- "Ovidio Guzmán fue liberado, confirma Alfonso Durazo" [Ovidio Guzmán was freed, confirms Alfonso Durazo]. Proceso (in Spanish). 18 October 2019. Archived from the original on 18 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
- "'We do not want war': Mexico president defends release of El Chapo's son". The Guardian. 18 October 2019. Archived from the original on 18 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
- "El Chapo: Mexican police free drug lord's son as Culiacán battle erupts". BBC News. 18 October 2019. Archived from the original on 18 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
- "Respaldé la liberación del hijo de El Chapo para evitar una masacre: AMLO" ["I backed the release of El Chapo's son in order to prevent a massacre: AMLO"]. Proceso (in Spanish). 18 October 2019. Archived from the original on 18 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
- https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/el-chapo-ovidio-guzman-lopez-arrest-sinaloa-culiacan-police-officer-eduardo-a9195526.html
- https://www.newsweek.com/police-officer-operation-el-chapo-son-shot-150-daylight-assassination-sinaloa-culiacan-1470568
- https://www.infobae.com/america/mexico/2020/05/08/gobierno-de-lopez-obrador-congelo-cuentas-millonarias-a-ovidio-guzman-hijo-del-chapo/
- https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/mexican-carteldeploys-deadly-hit-squad-22110000
- https://communalnews.com/el-mencho-sends-hit-squad-to-take-out-el-chapos-sons/
- https://www.infobae.com/america/mexico/2020/06/24/va-a-caer-antes-que-muera-de-viejo-la-advertencia-de-mike-vigil-a-caro-quintero-el-narco-de-narcos/