Ovidio Guzmán López is the first of El Chapo’s four sons, who are all facing American criminal charges, to be sent to the United States for prosecution.
When sweeping charges against the Chapitos were announced last month, the Justice Department presented a unified front. It was another story behind the scenes.
The charges, in five related cases, offered a panoramic view of how the deadly drug was created, transported and ultimately sold by the Sinaloa cartel on American streets.
After troops arrested a son of the notorious drug lord known as El Chapo, cartel gunmen tried to free him, resulting in a series of gun battles and thousands of troops called into the fight.
The arrest of Ovidio Guzmán López was a victory for the Mexican government. He had been briefly detained in 2019, but was released after cartel gunmen overpowered law enforcement.