El Chapo’s son pleads guilty to drug trafficking and kidnap of rival gang leader

Prosecutors have received a guilty plea from Joaquín Guzmán Lopez, son of the notorious drug lord known as ‘El Chapo’. Guzman had been in police custody in the United States since his arrest in July 2024.

The 39-year-old pleaded guilty to two counts of drug trafficking and continuing criminal enterprise. He acknowledged that he had played a central role in a major drug trafficking operation into the States, much of which involved underground tunnels.

In 2023 federal authorities investigating Guzman’s Sinaloa cartel described “staggering” quantities of fentanyl being sent into the country. Tens of thousands of pounds were transported into the U.S. as part of the criminal enterprise but Guzmán could still avoid life in prison, thanks to his guilty plea.

How was El Chapo’s son arrested?

After years at the center of the international drug trade, Guzmán’s eventual arrest came as a major shock last year. AP reports that Lopez was arrested alongside Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada when their private plane landed in Texas.

During the trial Andrew Erskine, an attorney representing the federal government, claimed that Guzmán had kidnapped fellow Sinaloa leader Zambada during a meeting, snatching him and drugging him before loading the sedated Zambada onto a plane.

He had hoped to deliver Zambada to American authorities to help secure a lower sentence for his own crimes, Erskine told the court, adding that Guzmán still faces at least ten years in prison.

Guzmán becomes the second of El Chapo’s sons to enter a plea deal in the United States. Back in July Ovidio Guzmán Lopez pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, money laundering and firearms charges. El Chapo is currently serving a life sentence following his conviction in 2019.

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