Officials stated that Ovidio Guzman Lopez, 33, of Culiacan, Mexico, was arraigned in Chicago on Monday after his extradition from Mexico to the U.S. on Sept. 15.
In January, according to authorities, Guzman Lopez was arrested in Mexico following a U.S. request for extradition.
Guzman Lopez, aka El Raton and Raton Nuevo, is charged in Illinois with five counts in a nine-count 12th superseding indictment alleging that from around May 2008 and continuing to at least Oct. 21, 2021, he engaged in a drug trafficking Continuing Criminal Enterprise (CCE), along with additional drug, money laundering, and firearms charges.
Guzman Lopez is charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana from Mexico and elsewhere for importation into the United States.
According to court documents, the charges stem from a decades-long, collaborative, multi-district effort between the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section (NDDS), 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 treaty, the United States had up to 60 days to present a fully supported request, one in compliance with the terms of the treaty.
The United States submitted that request in February 2023.
A Mexican court reviewed the U.S. request and last month favorably recommended his extradition. The Foreign Ministry reviewed the decision and similarly concluded that Guzman Lopez should be extradited to the United States.
Guzman Lopez was extradited to the United States on Sept. 15. He was arraigned on the charges before U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman. He pleaded not guilty.
Guzman Lopez is one of the sons of Joaquin Guzman Loera, aka El Chapo, who was convicted by a jury in New York for his role as the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Following Guzman Loera’s arrest in January 2016 and extradition 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, aka “the Chapitos,” who are also charged in the indictment, allegedly assumed their father’s former role as leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, along with Zambada Garcia and Damaso Lopez Nunez, aka Licenciado.
The Chapitos subsequently amassed greater control over the Sinaloa Cartel by allegedly threatening and causing violence against Lopez Nunez, his family, and associates.
As a result, Guzman Lopez became the principal leader and drug trafficker within the Sinaloa Cartel.
Guzman Lopez was also indicted in the Southern District of New York on charges of continuing criminal enterprise, fentanyl importation conspiracy, fentanyl distribution conspiracy, possession of machineguns and destructive devices, conspiracy to possess machineguns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Trial Attorney Kirk Handrich of NDDS, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Erskine and Erika Csicsila for the Northern District of Illinois, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Sutton for the Southern District of California are prosecuting the case.