Donald Trump just let world's most notorious drug lord's family into the United States
Topics: Crime, Donald Trump, Politics, US News
Rhianna Benson
Featured Image Credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Crime, Donald Trump, Politics, US News
17 relatives of a notorious Mexican gang leader have reportedly been permitted travel over the border to the United States this week.
The controversial move forms part of a new deal between President Trump and the infamous Sinaloa Cartel - specifically, the son of Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, the former head of the group.
The cartel, also known as the Guzmán-Loera Organisation, describes a colossal organised crime syndicate and terrorist organisation, specialising in drug trafficking and money laundering.
El Chapo fronted the group for several years - during which the 68-year-old is believed to have caused the deaths of over 34,000 people. This led to him being considered the most powerful drug trafficker in the world by federal organisations.
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Following countless arrest attempts and prison break-outs, El Chapo was captured by authorities in 2017 and extradited to the US. Two years later, he was found guilty on a plethora of criminal charges in relation to the Sinaloa Cartel and sentenced to life behind bars. The gang lord has remained under the careful watch of officers at Colorado's maximum security facility, ADX Florence, ever since.
There has since been a shocking new development in the case, however, with independent journalist Luis Chaparro breaking the news on Wednesday (14 May) that Ovidio Guzmán López - El Chapo's son - was previously offered a mutually-beneficial arrangement.
López, 35, is himself a drug lord known as 'the Mouse', and was responsible for running the cartel in his father's absence before being extradited to America back in 2023.
After agreeing to the deal, the family of López were subsequently welcomed into the US. Among the family members having been allowed into the US this week was El Chapo's former wife, Griselda López Pérez.
This latest report was also confirmed by Mexican Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch in the hours that followed.
Speaking on the radio, García Harfuch explained the decision surrounding the deal, claiming it was struck during negotiations between López and the US government amid his transfer to the United States.
"It is evident that his family is going to the U.S. because of a negotiation or an offer that the Department of Justice is giving him," he told listeners.
García Harfuch added that no members of the Guzmán-López family that had been permitted entry to the States were wanted by Mexican authorities.
In new video footage shared by the Spanish news outlet Radio Formula, several relatives of El Chapo himself could be seen moving luggage as they waited to be processed at the border between Tijuana in Mexico, and San Diego, California.
Harfuch's confirmation of the news came within hours of a speech given by Pam Bondi, the US Attorney General, where she announced that the government would be charging a number of leaders with 'narcoterrorism' in the coming weeks, after Trump branded several prolific cartels 'foreign terrorist organisations'.
Southern California US Attorney, Adam Gordon, issued a warning following the move.
"Let me be direct, to the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, you are no longer the hunters, you are the hunted," he threatened.
"You will be betrayed by your friends, you will be hounded by your enemies and you will ultimately find yourself and your face here in a courtroom in the Southern District of California."