Attorney General Garland announces Mexico’s extradition of ‘El Chapo’ son to the United States.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that Ovidio Guzmán López, the son of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, was extradited from Mexico City to the United States. He will be facing charges related to drug trafficking.

Garland stated that this move is the latest measure taken by the Justice Department to target all aspects of the cartel’s activities.

Requests for comment were made to the Mexican government, but they did not provide an immediate response.

In January, the Mexican authorities apprehended Guzmán López, also known as “the Mouse,” in Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state, which shares the same name as the notorious cartel.

Three years earlier, the government had tried to capture him, but aborted the operation after his cartel allies set off a wave of violence in Culiacan.

The arrest in January triggered comparable violence resulting in the deaths of 30 individuals in Culiacan, including 10 members of the military.

The military employed Black Hawk helicopters armed with guns to counter the cartel’s truck-mounted machine guns of .50 caliber. The cartel’s gunmen successfully targeted and damaged two military aircraft, causing them to make emergency landings. Additionally, they dispatched gunmen to the airport in the city, where both military and civilian aircraft were subjected to gunfire.

The capture came just days before U.S. President Joe Biden visited Mexico for bilateral talks followed by the North American Leaders’ Summit.

In April, the U.S. prosecutors revealed extensive charges against Guzmán and his siblings, commonly referred to as the “Chapitos.” The indictments provided a thorough account of how, after their father was extradited and received a lifelong imprisonment in the U.S., the brothers shifted the cartel’s focus towards synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine and the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl.

The indictment unsealed in Manhattan said their goal was to produce huge quantities of fentanyl and sell it at the lowest price. Fentanyl is so cheap to make that the cartel reaps immense profits even wholesaling the drug at 50 cents per pill, prosecutors said.

The Chapitos gained notoriety for their extreme brutality, which seemed to exceed the limits of self-control demonstrated by previous cartel leaders.

Fentanyl is now a major concern in the security partnership between the two countries. However, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has refuted claims made by both the U.S. government and his own military regarding fentanyl production in Mexico. Instead, he characterizes Mexico as a transit location for precursors originating from China and destined for the U.S.

López Obrador attributes the high levels of drug addiction in the U.S. to a decline in family values.