Mexican drug trafficker Joaquín Guzmán López, son of Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court on Monday to drug trafficking-related offenses after pleading not guilty last year.
Guzman Lopez, alias El Guero, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and racketeering charges in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago.
Son of Chapo pleads guilty
Joaquín Guzmán López, son of “El Chapo” Guzmán, pleaded guilty in #US to #narcotrafficking, organized crime and kidnapping drug lord “El Mayo” Zambada. In his statement he gave details about how he tricked and kidnapped Ismael Zambada: pic.twitter.com/qAosjiRZmS
– Imagen Televisión (@ImagenTVMex) December 2, 2025
According to media present at the hearing, Guzman Lopez claimed to be responsible for overseeing the distribution of drugs such as cocaine, heroin and fentanyl while running a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel alongside his brother Ovidio.
Following his guilty plea, the Mexican national will cooperate with the U.S. justice system and will return to court on June 1, 2026, according to the judge in the case, Sharon Johnson Coleman.
On Friday, November 28, it was announced in court documents that Guzman Lopez would plead guilty at his hearing on Monday, December 1, which was originally scheduled to be routine.
The Mexican arrived in the US in 2024, on a private flight with Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, co-founder and historic leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, in what is suspected to be a deception of Zambada, allegedly part of another plea deal.
Last July, Joaquin’s brother, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, also pleaded guilty to four drug trafficking-related charges before the same court as part of a plea agreement with U.S. authorities, the terms of which were not disclosed.
Both brothers are accused of leading a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, designated by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization.
Meanwhile, in August ‘El Mayo’ Zambada formally pleaded guilty to two counts of drug trafficking, money laundering and weapons charges against him in a New York federal court.
With information from EFE
