Attorney General Garland announces that Mexico has extradited the son of ‘El Chapo’ to the United States.

Ovidio Guzmán López, the son of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, was extradited from Mexico City to the United States on Friday. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland confirmed this news and stated that Ovidio will be facing drug trafficking charges.

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 not immediately responded to by the Mexican government.

In January, the Mexican security forces apprehended Guzmán López, also known as “the Mouse,” in Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state, which is named after the cartel.

The government had made an attempt to apprehend him three years ago, but they called off the mission when his cartel associates caused a surge of violence in Culiacan.

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

The military employed Black Hawk helicopters to counter the cartel’s truck-mounted machine guns that were equipped with .50-caliber. The cartel’s gunmen successfully targeted and disabled two military aircraft, causing them to make emergency landings. They also dispatched gunmen to the city’s airport, 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 gradually shifted the cartel’s focus towards synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine and the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl.

The revealed indictment in Manhattan stated that their objective was to manufacture large amounts of fentanyl and distribute it at the most affordable cost. Prosecutors mentioned that fentanyl is produced so inexpensively that the cartel earns substantial profits even when selling the drug at a price as low as 50 cents per pill.

The Chapitos gained notoriety for their extreme brutality, which seemed to exceed the limits of self-control exhibited 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.