USA
Son of drug lord “El Chapo” pleads “not guilty”
This video still provided by the Mexican government shows Ovidio Guzman Lopez during his arrest (archive image). photo
© Uncredited/CEPROPIE/AP/dpa
Before his conviction, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was one of the most powerful drug traffickers in the world. Another trial now deals with the question of the extent to which son Ovidio was involved in the business.
The son of the Mexican drug lord imprisoned in the United States Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán has pleaded not guilty in court in the US following his extradition. The 33-year-old must now remain in custody after the indictment was read out yesterday in Chicago, as the US Department of Justice announced.
Ovidio Guzmán was arrested in January in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, Mexico. “El Chapo’s” son is accused of several crimes in the United States, including drug trafficking, organized crime and money laundering as one of the leaders of the notorious Sinaloa Cartel.
Guzmán was extradited to the USA last week. The ministry will continue to hold accountable those responsible for the opioid epidemic in the United States, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said during the extradition. In the United States, the painkiller crisis has led to nearly half a million deaths over the past two decades, according to the CDC.
Ovidio Guzmán’s father was one of the most powerful drug traffickers in the world until his arrest. He managed to escape from prison several times until he was extradited to the USA after his last arrest in 2016 and sentenced to life imprisonment there in 2019. His sons then took over part of their father’s drug business.