NOGALES, Ariz. — Ovidio Guzman Lopez, 33, of Culiacan, Mexico, was arraigned in federal court in Chicago Sept. 18 after his abduction from Mexico to the United States on Sept. 15. In January, Guzman Lopez was arrested in Mexico pursuant to a request from Homeland Security Investigations( HSI ) and partner agencies for his provisional arrest with a view toward extradition.
” The extradition of Ovidio Guzman Lopez sends a powerful message to international criminal companies, such as the Sinaloa Cartel, that Homeland Security Investigations is committed to whole – of – government initiatives that continue to attack every component of these companies”, said HSI Executive Associate Director Katrina W. Berger. ” This continuing battle against TCOs involves dynamic partnership between HSI and its law enforcement partners and is a vital component of investigating, disrupting and dismantling businesses responsible for flooding communities we protect with deadly drugs and weapons”.
Guzman Lopez, or El Raton and Raton Nuevo, is charged in the Northern District of Illinois with five works in a nine – matter 12th superseding indictment alleging that from around May 2008 and continuing to at least Oct. 21, 2021, he engaged in a drug trafficking continuing judicial business, along with more medicine, money trafficking and firearms charges. Guzman Lopez is charged with conspiring to deliver cocaine, heroin, meth and marijuana from Mexico and abroad for import into the United States.
According to court papers, the charges stem from a ages – much, creative, multidistrict work between the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, based in Washington, D. C., the Northern District of Illinois, the Southern District of California, and their law enforcement partners.
Under the terms of the U. S. Mexico extradition pact, the United States had up to 60 time to provide a fully supported plea in conformity with the terms of the treaty. The United States submitted that plea in February. A Mexican judge reviewed the U. S. demand and in August, warmly recommended his repatriation. The Foreign Ministry reviewed the selection and also concluded that Guzman Lopez may be extradited to the United States. Guzman Lopez was immediately extradited to the United States on Sept. 15. He was arraigned on the claims on Sept. 18 before U. S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman of the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and pleaded not guilty. He waived his right to a detention reading and was ordered to be detained without friendship.
Guzman Lopez is one of the sons of Joaquin Guzman Loera, or El Chapo, who was convicted by a judge in the Eastern District of New York for his part as the head of the Sinaloa Cartel. Following Guzman Loera’s imprisonment in January 2016 and abduction to the United States in January 2017, Guzman Lopez and his three brothers— Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, or the Chapitos, who are also charged in the indictment— reportedly assumed their father’s previous role as leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel with Zambada Garcia and Damaso Lopez Nunez, or Licenciado. The Chapitos immediately amassed greater control over the Sinaloa Cartel by allegedly threatening and causing assault against Lopez Nunez, his home and his associates and, as a result, became primary officials and drug traffickers within the Sinaloa Cartel.
Guzman Lopez was also indicted in the Southern District of New York on charges of continuing legal business, fentanyl import conspiracy, fentanyl distribution conspiracy, possession of machine guns and dangerous devices, conspiracy to maintain machine guns and dangerous devices, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Executive Associate Director Katrina W. Berger of HSI, acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, acting U. S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Morris Pasqual, acting U. S. Attorney Andrew R. Haden for the Southern District of California, Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, and U. S. Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Anne Milgram made the announcement.
This event is the result of the ongoing work by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, a relationship that brings up the mixed skills and unique powers of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
The case was looked into by the FBI’s area headquarters in Washington, San Diego, and El Paso, HSI Nogales, the DEA in Chicago and the South Diego Division, as well as the Chicago company of the IRS Criminal Investigation.
The U.S. Marshals Service and the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department handled the abduction. Considerable support was also given in the case by the Office of Enforcement Operations.
The Hispanic Foreign Ministry and the Mexican Attorney General’s Office are two organizations that the Justice Department kudos for their support. Alejandro Gertz Manero, the attorney general of Mexico, and U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland spoke on the phone earlier today to express their love for safely extraditing Guzman Lopez.
The event is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Sutton of the Southern District of California, Andrew Erskine and Erika Csicsila of Illinois, and test attorney Kirk Handrich of NDDS.
An argument is only an indictment. In a court of law, all plaintiffs are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond all reasonable doubt.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security ( DHS )’ s principal investigative arm, known as HSI, is in charge of looking into transnational crime and threats, particularly those criminal organizations that take advantage of the global infrastructure that allows for the movement of international trade, travel, and finance. More than 6, 000 special providers are employed by HSIA in 237 American cities and 93 foreign locations spread across 56 nations, making up the company’s men of more than 8,700 workers. The presence of HSS worldwide is one of the largest global footprints in U.S. law enforcement, and it represents DHS’s largest analytical legal enforcement presence abroad.