US releases new wanted photo for El Chapo’s son

Secretary of State has described cartels as threats to ‘global public health, safety, and US national security’

Joaquín Guzmán-López (US state department )

The US state department has released a new image of “El Chapito”, a son of former Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, and again called for his arrest.

An updated image was issued by the department last month following reports that it actually showed César Guzmán Salazar, a different son of El Chapo, according to Borderlandbeat.com.

While the son who appeared in the press release is not involved in drug trafficking, US authorities said in a press release last month that Joaquín Guzmán-López was wanted for doing so.

The state department’s bureau for International narcotics confirmed to The Independent on Tuesday that it had updated the photo of Mr Guzmán-López.

The 35-year-old is among the most senior leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel and the Guzmán-López Transnational Criminal Organization. His father, El Chapo, is imprisoned and formerly ran the cartel.

“The Guzmán-López brothers began their narcotics trafficking careers early by inheriting relationships from their deceased brother, Edgar Guzmán-López,” said the US department of state.

“Following Edgar’s death, Joaquín and Ovidio (Guzmán-López) inherited a great deal of the narcotics proceeds and began investing large amounts of the cash into the purchasing of marijuana in Mexico and cocaine in Colombia.”

Joaquín Guzmán-López (US state department)

In total, four of El Chapo’s sons including Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, Joaquín and Ovidio are currently subject to indictment or investigation by US authorities, according to DailyMail.com.

“They also began purchasing large amounts of ephedrine from Argentina and arranged for the smuggling of the product into Mexico as they began to experiment with methamphetamine production,” the US state department added.

A still of the US state department website for ‘El Chapito’ on 17 December, showing an allegedly incorrect image (US state department/Waybackmachine)

Estimates of drugs trafficked from Mexico’s Sinaloa state to the US are in the region of 3,000-5,000 pounds of methamphetamine per month. 

US secretary of state Anthony Blinken said last month that he hoped a $5m reward for El Chapito’s arrest would “enhance our efforts to disrupt and deter transnational criminal activity globally.”

“When transnational criminal organizations engage in drug and firearms trafficking, human trafficking, migrant smuggling, cybercrime, and money laundering, among other illicit activities, they threaten global public health, safety, and US national security, while facilitating corruption that undermines the stability and security of partner nations” he added.

The Independent has approached the bureau of international narcotics, which manages the webpage, for comment.