SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum wants to know why the U.S. government has allowed 17 members of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán’s family to enter the United States.
Guzmán was the notorious leader of the Sinaloa cartel during the 1990s and 2000s, but is now serving a life sentence in the United States.
His family crossed the border last Friday through the San Ysidro border Port of Entry, something that has been reported by Mexico’s El Universal newspaper and other publications.
During her daily news conference, Sheinbaum told reporters the U.S. Department of Justice “failed to notify” their counterparts in Mexico about the family crossing the border.
A video circulating on social media, shows 17 people, believed to be Guzman’s relatives, at the border carrying suitcases and bags.
Griselda López Pérez is said to be part of the group.
She is second wife of El Chapo and mother to four of his children including Ovidio “El Ratón” Guzmán, and Joaquín “El Güero” Moreno Guzmán López. Both are known as ‘Chapitos’ and were in charge of a faction within the Sinaloa Cartel.
The two siblings are now in U.S. custody.
Ovidio reportedly arranged for the arrest of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada last July.
At that time, Zambada was the leader of another branch of the cartel.
This perceived betrayal generated an ongoing war within the Sinaloa cartel that has left more than 600 people dead and an entire city, Culiacán, in fear.
Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office has said it has information that Ovidio has reached a plea agreement with the U.S. government, something that will be made public June 6, when he has a court appearance.
According to El Universal, the family’s arrival in the U.S. and its future government-sponsored protection is part of that deal.
During a news conference Tuesday morning to announce an indictment of the remaining leaders of the Sinaloa cartel, U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon, head of the Southern California District Court, refused to answer questions about Ovidio Guzmán’s reported plea deal and the family’s arrival in California.
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