Joaquin Guzman Lopez pleads guilty to drug charges in US

A son of notorious drugs kingpin “El Chapo” has pleaded guilty to drug charges in the US.

Joaquin Guzman Lopez, 39, known in Mexico as “Chapitos” or “little Chapos”, admitted two counts of drug trafficking and continuing criminal enterprise.

As part of a plea deal to avoid a life sentence, he said he had overseen the production and trafficking of large amounts of fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and cannabis.

Most of it is said to have been smuggled through underground tunnels.

He was arrested last year when he landed in the US on a private plane with another cartel leader, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.

Zambada’s lawyer previously said his client had been “forcibly kidnapped” by Guzman Lopez and forced on the US-bound flight.

Their capture caused a spike in violence in northern Mexico as two factions of the Sinaloa cartel fought for dominance.

“The government has been very fair with Joaquin thus far,” defence lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman told reporters after the Chicago court hearing.

“I do appreciate the fact that the Mexican government didn’t interfere.”

Joaquin’s brother, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, was also a leader in the gang and in July entered a plea deal, admitting drug trafficking, firearms charges and money laundering.

Federal authorities said in 2023 that the cartel was sending “staggering” amounts of fentanyl to the US, where the opioid kills thousands every year.

The brothers’ father, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, received a life sentence in 2019 for leading the Sinaloa cartel and smuggling drugs into America for over 25 years.

He famously escaped from his Mexican prison cell in 2015 using a specially built tunnel but was later recaptured and extradited to the US.