Mexico’s Security Chief Omar García Harfuch confirmed that 17 family members of cartel leader Ovidio Guzman Lopez crossed into the U.S. last week, following negotiations with the Trump administration. Guzman Lopez, who was extradited to the U.S. in 2023, is part of the Sinaloa Cartel. Video footage showed the family entering from Tijuana. García Harfuch suggested their crossing was linked to a deal involving Guzman Lopez’s potential guilty plea for drug trafficking charges. Meanwhile, U.S. authorities announced charges against top cartel leaders for “narcoterrorism,” emphasizing that Sinaloa Cartel leaders are now “the hunted.”
MEXICO CITY — The security chief of Mexico confirmed on Tuesday that 17 relatives of cartel leaders entered the U.S. last week as a result of an agreement involving a son of the former Sinaloa Cartel leader and the Trump administration.
Omar García Harfuch, the Mexican Security Secretary, validated an independent report by journalist Luis Chaparro regarding the relatives of Ovidio Guzman Lopez, who was extradited to the U.S. in 2023.
Guzmán Lopez is among the brothers overseeing a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel following the imprisonment of notorious capo Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán in the U.S. Footage captured the family members crossing the border from Tijuana with suitcases in tow, approaching U.S. agents waiting on the other side.
Speculation surfaced last week that the younger Guzmán might plead guilty to evade trial on various drug trafficking charges in the U.S. after his extradition in 2023.
In a radio interview, García Harfuch confirmed the family’s crossing, emphasizing that Mexican authorities understood it was the result of negotiations between Guzmán López and the U.S. government.
He suggested that the situation arose because the former cartel leader, whose lawyer indicated in January that negotiations with U.S. authorities were underway, had been implicating members of other criminal factions as part of a cooperation deal.
“It is clear that his family is heading to the U.S. due to a negotiation or offer from the Department of Justice,” García Harfuch stated.
He noted that none of the family members were being pursued by Mexican authorities and that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump “needs to share information” with Mexican prosecutors, which has yet to occur.
García Harfuch’s confirmation coincided with the announcement from the U.S. Attorney General’s Office regarding charges against several high-ranking cartel leaders for “narcoterrorism,” marking the first such charges since the Trump administration designated various cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
While prosecutors refrained from commenting on the family’s video, U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon for the Southern District of California issued a stark warning to cartel members, specifically naming the Sinaloa Cartel.
“Let me be clear, to the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel: you are no longer the hunters; you are the hunted. Betrayal will come from your allies, you’ll be pursued by your adversaries, and you will ultimately find yourselves and your faces here in a courtroom in the Southern District of California,” Gordon remarked.