Son of jailed Mexican drug lord ‘El Chapo’ to plead guilty in US court

Key update

Joaquin Guzman Lopez, one of the four sons of imprisoned Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, is expected to change his plea to guilty in a United States federal court, according to recently filed court documents. This marks a major step in the long-running US effort to prosecute members of the Guzman family over large-scale drug trafficking.

Who is Joaquin Guzman Lopez

Joaquin Guzman Lopez is one of the sons of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the former head of the Sinaloa cartel who is serving a life sentence in a US high-security prison following his 2019 conviction. Together with his brothers, he is widely known as one of “Los Chapitos”, a group accused of inheriting parts of their father’s criminal network.

Details of the expected plea

Court filings indicate that Guzman Lopez intends to admit guilt to federal narcotics charges in Chicago, making him one of El Chapo’s sons to formally acknowledge responsibility in a US courtroom. The plea is expected to relate to his role in overseeing the manufacture and smuggling of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana, and fentanyl from Mexico into the United States.

Role in the Sinaloa cartel

US authorities allege that Joaquin Guzman Lopez, along with his brother Ovidio, helped lead a faction of the Sinaloa cartel focused on producing and shipping “staggering” quantities of fentanyl and other drugs into US markets. Investigators say this operation has significantly contributed to the overdose crisis that kills tens of thousands of people in the United States each year.

Legal context and implications

Following El Chapo’s conviction, US agencies shifted their attention to his sons, viewing them as key figures in maintaining segments of the cartel’s fragmented empire. Prosecutors see the anticipated guilty plea as a landmark moment in efforts to hold senior members and relatives of the former cartel boss accountable in US courts.

“Los Chapitos” have been described by US officials as central to a major effort to move large amounts of fentanyl and other drugs into the United States, deepening an already severe public health emergency.

Author’s summary

The case shows how US prosecutors are steadily turning pressure from El Chapo himself toward his sons, using guilty pleas to probe deeper into the Sinaloa cartel’s evolving leadership and fentanyl pipeline.

Al Jazeera — 2025-11-29