Several sons of the now-jailed former Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquín Guzmán Loera, alias “El Chapo,” have emerged among the most influential criminal groups in Mexico.
Joaquín Guzmán López, Ovidio Guzmán López, Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar – known collectively as the Chapitos – have become increasingly influential in the synthetic drug trade and other criminal economies in north and western Mexico.
History
Ovidio, Iván, and Jesús Alfredo were apparently brought into the Sinaloa Cartel’s criminal operations at a young age as teenagers by their father and another top Sinaloa Cartel figure, Ismael Zambada García, alias “El Mayo,” in order to learn the ins and outs of the organization. They began to assume a more prominent role in the mid- to late-2010s, around the time their father was arrested and extradited to the United States.
In 2015, US prosecutors indicted Jesús alongside his father and a number of other cartel leaders on drug trafficking charges.
In 2016, Jesús and Iván were among a group of men abducted by the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación – CJNG) from a restaurant in an upscale district of the Mexican tourism center, Puerto Vallarta, in the state of Jalisco, the CJNG’s home turf. Both sons were later released.
After El Chapo’s extradition to the United States in January 2017, conflicts have intensified between the Chapitos and other Sinaloa Cartel leaders. The brothers have been at odds with the factions associated with El Mayo, as well as those associated with their uncle, Aureliano Guzmán Loera, alias “El Guano,” over control of the group’s operations and access to key trafficking routes.
In May 2020, José Rodrigo Aréchiga Gamboa, alias “El Chino Antrax” — once the head of the Sinaloa Cartel’s Antrax hit squad and an associate of El Mayo — was found dead after escaping federal probation supervision in San Diego. The Chapitos are believed to be behind the slaying.
In June 2020, a multi-hour shootout reportedly between the two sides outside Culiacán left 16 dead.
The Chapitos have also faced increasing pressure from authorities.
In October 2019, Mexican security forces launched a poorly planned operation to capture Ovidio in the Sinaloa state capital of Culiacán. Shortly after word of Ovidio’s detention spread, Sinaloa Cartel members responded in force, swarming the city and launching an all-out offensive to demand his release. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador ultimately “ordered that the operation be stopped and that the presumed criminal be set free.”
At the end of 2021, the US State Department upped its reward to $20 million for information that would help them in capturing the four sons. The US Treasury Department has also sanctioned the Chapitos under the so-called Kingpin Act.
Despite being in the crosshairs of US authorities, the Chapitos stepped up their efforts to exert dominance over the group their father once led. In February 2022, armed men – reportedly loyal to the Chapitos – riding in a convoy of dozens of vehicles laid siege on the municipality of Caborca near the US-Mexico border. For hours, the convoy occupied the city, as local police were unable to repel them until morning. In the end, the attack left two dead and at least five others kidnapped.
After their notoriety rose significantly through 2021 and 2022, the Chapitos suffered a blow in January 2023, when Ovidio was arrested in Culiacán, the state capital of Sinaloa.
Following his arrest, much like in 2019, blockades were set up across the city and other parts of Sinaloa, with cartel gunmen taking shots at police and army troops and even bringing down a military helicopter. Within hours, the federal government sent in reinforcements to calm the situation.
While Ovidio was not released this time, this action proved the rapid mobilization and response capacity of the Sinaloa Cartel on their own turf. In September 2023, Ovidio was extradited to the United States after a fast-track process.
In July 2024, Joaquín was arrested in the United States after flying there on a private plane with El Mayo, who claimed Joaquín had kidnapped him.
Criminal Activities
The Chapitos’ main business, much like their father before them, is international drug trafficking. According to various US indictments, the sons are involved in trafficking large quantities of everything from cocaine and marijuana to methamphetamine into the United States using their vast web of contacts throughout Latin America.
In particular, the group has adjusted to shifting drug markets and become ever more involved in the synthetic drug trade, especially with regards to trafficking the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl. In fact, the Chapitos have expanded their activities to include the exploitation of drug rehab centers to recruit new traffickers – yet another source of continued violence with El Mayo’s faction.
In addition, the group has also looked beyond the US market and started tapping into lucrative markets in Australia.
The Chapitos are among the main suppliers of fentanyl and methamphetamine into the United States. The US Justice Department issued charges against them for conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana in 2021 and multimillion-dollar rewards have been offered for each of them. However, in 2023, criminal organizations in Sinaloa, including the Chapitos, reportedly imposed a complete ban on fentanyl production and trafficking, likely in response to judicial pressure on the group after Ovidio’s arrest. Several people were found dead near Culiacán, after having been tortured, and with fentanyl pills left on the bodies.
“Anyone who disobeys must be executed,” one criminal security chief affiliated with the Chapitos told InSight Crime, adding that over 50 people had been killed in 2023 for flouting the fentanyl ban.
It is not currently clear whether this ban will last for a long time and how Chapitos rivals, including the CJNG, will react.
Geography
The primary stronghold for the Chapitos is their birthplace of Sinaloa, a state in northwest Mexico along the country’s Pacific coast.
El Chapo’s sons seem to have much more sway and strength within Sinaloa’s capital Culiacán and other urban centers. On the other hand, El Mayo’s faction is believed to maintain a stronghold in rural areas surrounding the capital city.
As a whole, the Sinaloa Cartel is operational in major cities stretching from New York City to Buenos Aires and countless others in between. The group has also had various degrees of presence or influence in at least 17 Mexican states, and by some estimates, in as many as 50 countries.
Allies and Enemies
The Chapitos primary rival within the Sinaloa Cartel is the faction associated with El Mayo. There have also been reported family frictions with their uncle, El Guano, over control of drug trafficking territory and alleged extortion payments he was thought to be charging in parts of Sinaloa.
The CJNG remains a top enemy of the Chapitos as they and the Sinaloa Cartel battle for control over Mexico’s vast criminal economies. CJNG leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias “El Mencho,” reportedly assembled a hit squad to hunt down and kill El Chapo’s sons.
In addition, the Chapitos have battled the Beltrán Leyva Organization, the Sinaloa Cartel’s one-time ally before a 2008 split kicked off a bloody battle between the two groups. In 2016, more than 100 Beltrán Leyva members were reportedly responsible for looting El Chapo’s mother’s home in the mountains of Sinaloa, forcing her and hundreds of others from nearby communities to flee the area.To help in their ongoing turf wars, the Chapitos have recruited allies across several states. This list includes former rivals such as Pablo Edwin Huerta Nuno, alias “El Flaquito,” formerly of the Arellano Felix Cartel in Baja California, as well as longtime associates such as Néstor Ernesto Pérez Salas, alias “Nini,” in Culiacán.
Prospects
With Ovidio and Joaquín in US custody, the future of the Chapitos appears uncertain. US officials have said that Joaquín voluntarily surrendered to US authorities in July 2024. El Mayo has said that Joaquín kidnapped him and brought him to the United States against his will when Joaquín turned himself in.
The apparent betrayal has generated significant tension within the Sinaloa Cartel. Criminal actors associated with the group told InSight Crime that they are preparing for a possible eruption of conflict between the two factions. But even if violence breaks out, the decentralized nature of the drug supply chain means drug flows will likely continue without significant disruption.