One year after the capture of Ovidio Guzmán, son of 'El Chapo': what is the case going on?

Just a year ago, the Mexican Armed Forces detained in Sinaloa (northwest of the country) Ovidio Guzmán, son of Joaquín 'el Chapo' Guzmán. The arrest was carried out in the middle of a real urban war that left several police officers and drug traffickers dead.

(You can read: Ovidio Guzmán López: the luxurious mansion where he was detained during the Culiacanazo)

Now Guzmán, 33 years old, faces a difficult situation before the United States Justice, which accuses him of being one of the main people responsible for trafficking the deadly fentanyl.

(Also: Ovidio Guzmán: this is his degree and the luxurious Mexican school where he studied)

He had already been arrested in October 2019, but the wave of violence produced in what was known as the first 'culiacanazo' (in reference to the town where the arrest took place, Culiacán) made the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador , ordered his release.

(See also: What the Chicago skyscraper-prison in which Chapo's son is imprisoned is like)

Last September Guzmán, known as 'El Ratón', was extradited to the United States, where he is accused of leading a criminal organization, laundering money and trafficking all types of drugs, including fentanyl, which has caused the worst opioid crisis in the country.

There he pleaded not guilty to the five charges of which he is accused in the Chicago District Court, and which could lead to a life sentence.

López Obrador then affirmed that the extradition of Joaquín 'el Chapo' Guzmán's son, who is serving a sentence in a maximum security prison in the United States, occurred to avoid giving pretexts for “politicking” in the face of the next electoral process in the northern neighbor. .

“It is important that no reason be given to those who use the issue of drug trafficking for political purposes in the United States. There are two topics that are used a lot when there are elections in the United States: drug trafficking and migration,” said the Mexican president in his morning press conference.

(Keep reading: Why do Ovidio Guzmán's lawyers say that extradition to the US was outside the law?)

The Sinaloa cartel, according to the United States, is the “most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world” and is largely responsible for the production and manufacturing of fentanyl for distribution in the United States, where this drug, considered 50 times more powerful than heroin , is “the leading” cause of death among Americans ages 18 to 49.

The United States accuses Mexico of Not doing enough to stop criminal organizations producing fentanylwhose precursors come mostly from China, and whose final destination is the US market.

(Also: Betray your brothers or face life imprisonment, the dilemma of Ovidio Guzmán)

'There is a Sinaloa cartel for a while'

Asked about the future of the “oldest criminal organization in Mexico,” government programs consultant and also security expert David Saucedo is convinced that “There is a Sinaloa cartel for a while”, since “there are other leaders”, such as Ismael 'el Mayo' Zambada, who could take control in case 'los Chapitos' are captured.

In his opinion, the future of the children of 'El Chapo' will depend on their adaptation to the “criminal dynamics” and he points out that the organization's main rival, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), is much more “successful.” when it comes to “expanding in global markets”, so it may be its “main threat”.

(In context: The pending debts of Ovidio Guzmán, son of 'Chapo', with the US justice system.)

In fact, Saucedo points out that, “if this pressure from the Americans against the Sinaloa cartel continues,” the CJNG may “try to take over” the territories controlled by its rival.

“Indirectly, this North American obsession with 'El Chapo' Guzmán and 'Los Chapitos' can lead to the strengthening of the CJNG and generate more violence in Mexico,” he warns.

EFE