Joaquín Guzmán López, Ovidio Guzmán López, Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, alias “The Chapitos”
| Name | Joaquín Guzmán López Ovidio Guzmán López Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar |
| Alias | The Chapitos |
| Country | Mexico |
| Criminal Group | The Sinaloa Cartel |
| Location | US prison (2), unknown (2) |
| Status | Captured (2), fugitive (2) |
The Chapitos are one of the most powerful crime groups in Mexico.
Heirs to one of the country’s most infamous crime families, the Chapitos are four of the sons of former Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquín Guzmán Loera, alias “El Chapo”: Joaquín Guzmán López; Ovidio Guzmán López; Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar; and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar.
The Sinaloa Cartel was created by drug trafficking barons El Chapo and Ismael Zambada García, alias “El Mayo.” Their children grew up side-by-side, learning the drug business from a young age.
Unlike their infamous father, who grew up among campesinos in the mountains, the Chapitos were born into a life of luxury paid for by El Chapo’s drug fortune.
And though many initially dismissed them as spoiled and privileged, they have proven to be strong criminal leaders and sharp businessmen.
They have also changed the rules of the game.
El Chapo was a major power figure in farming communities surrounding Culiacán, and in the absence of the government, often acted as a de facto authority figure. He cultivated goodwill and a sustainable living for locals by buying up cannabis and poppy harvests, investing in local development, settling communal disputes, and controlling — even punishing — petty crimes.
Despite the ever-present threat of violence, people came to respect El Chapo’s criminal authority, and hundreds even protested his 2016 arrest and extradition to the United States.
As El Chapo became older and increasingly hunted, his sons began taking on a bigger role in the family business. And the Chapitos have taken a different tact. They are unafraid to use violence and flaunt their power and wealth.
In October 2019, when Mexican security forces captured Ovidio Guzmán López in Culiacán, the Chapitos instantly mobilized their forces. Hundreds of men across the city retaliated in armored vehicles equipped with heavy weaponry like rocket launchers. Mexican soldiers were taken hostage, and the Chapitos’ gunmen even took control of a housing complex for military families. On the order of then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Ovidio was soon released.
The brothers became “narco-influencers,” posting photos of their lavish lifestyles on social media, including designer clothes, fancy cars, and deluxe weaponry.
The Chapitos have also expanded the drug trafficking empire that they inherited to include synthetic drugs, becoming one of the main suppliers of illicit fentanyl and methamphetamine to the United States.
But they have competition: from the sons of Chapo’s Sinaloa Cartel co-founder, El Mayo. The Mayiza, as that faction is known, is vying for many of the same territories and criminal profits.
Tensions have been brewing between the Chapitos and the Mayiza for many years. During El Chapo’s 2019 trial, one of the star witnesses was El Mayo’s son, Vicente Zambada Niebla. Fast forward five years, and it was Joaquín Guzmán López, one of El Chapo’s sons, who betrayed El Mayo and tricked him into being captured.
Since then, a blood feud between the two crime families has paralyzed the state of Sinaloa.
Joaquín Guzmán López is currently in US prison, after being taken into custody alongside El Mayo in 2024. Ovidio Guzmán López, who was captured and extradited to the United States in 2023, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in July 2025 and is awaiting his sentence.
Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar remain at large, with a $20 million reward from the United States for information about them.
The Sinaloa Cartel, whose founding leaders, El Chapo and El Mayo, are both in US prison, is still a formidable force in global drug trafficking. Born in Sinaloa’s poppy fields, it grew from humble roots to dominate the trade in fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin. Despite leadership shake-ups, including El Chapo’s multiple arrests and escapes, the cartel has thrived due to its network structure and willingness to form temporary alliances. But the group has split into two factions, the Chapitos and the Mayiza, which are locked in a brutal power struggle. The criminal network also faces serious pressure from the US and Mexican governments targeting the fentanyl trade, and many top leaders have been arrested. As the conflict between the factions develops, the Sinaloa Cartel’s leadership structure may undergo a serious transformation.
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