Luis Chaparro, a journalist for the Pie de Nota website, spoke on Aristegui en Vivo this Tuesday about the surrender of 17 relatives of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán to US authorities, led by Griselda López Pérez, mother of Ovidio Guzmán López, at the San Ysidro International Bridge in Tijuana.
This surrender of the relatives of one of the top leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel comes after it was revealed that, according to US court records, Ovidio Guzmán, the eldest son of “El Chapo” Guzmán, decided to change his plea of innocence to guilty on various drug trafficking charges before a federal judge in Chicago, indicating a possible agreement with US authorities.
Chaparro revealed that last Friday, around noon, an FBI source in San Diego informed him that they would be receiving members of the Guzmán López family, particularly Griselda López, the ex-wife of “El Chapo” Guzmán and mother of Ovidio and Joaquín.
“Particularly Griselda López, Chapo Guzmán’s ex-wife, mother of Ovidio and Joaquín, a sister, Grisel Guzmán López, her husband, a grandson named Archivaldo, and others who are cousins, uncles, etc.; 10 of them minors, the rest adults, and they would be arriving under the immigration status of Parol to be received, already awaited by the FBI, who also had a sniper on site, in the CBP building, precisely to prevent any possible attacks. There, as you can see in the images, they arrived with several suitcases, large suitcases, as well as expensive handbags, luxury bags, and among the adults, all of them, they would be carrying around $70,000 in cash.”
The journalist and host of Pie de Nota stated that this reception by members of the Guzmán López family with US authorities was part of the negotiations and explicit request that Joaquín and Ovidio Guzmán López had made to bring their mother and the rest of the family to permanently relocate them to the United States.
“Today on Pie de Nota news, we have an interview with Oscar Heilser, the former director of Homeland Security Investigations in Mexico, who told us that it won’t just be these 17, but that there are several more from the same family who will also be receiving these benefits.”
Chaparro added that Heilser had revealed to him that the transfer of the family members to the United States is a benefit agreed upon in exchange for information that “Los Chapitos,” Ovidio and Joaquín Guzmán López, could provide.
“(Heisler) tells me, ‘Look, this is the result, these are just the results, and we’re only seeing it because you published it. Otherwise, it would have gone unnoticed.’ The benefits he would have requested, the benefits Guzmán López, Ovidio, Joaquín, and “Chapo” Guzmán himself would have requested to provide information.”
According to the Pie de Nota journalist, Heisler revealed that this was part of the agreement with US authorities following the kidnapping and surrender of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
I asked (Heisler) in the Pie de Nota section if these benefits were just because Ovidio was going to speak, and he said, “Remember we spoke before? I told you that handing over Mayo Zambada would mean a series of much more important negotiations, including granting them a new identity, entering the Witness Protection program, leaving them with a portion of the money they made illegally, of course, so they can use it, and bringing in their family members.”
Chaparro, quoting Oscar Heisler, noted that the 17 family members who surrendered to US authorities won’t be all of them; there will be more, and for now, the Guzmán Salazar family members will remain operating in Mexico.
Are the Chapitos losing the war?
Regarding whether the surrender of Guzmán López family members can be interpreted as an escape in the context of the war between Chapitos and Mayitos, Chaparro stated:
“Not necessarily. It’s something that can certainly be speculated upon, and we can say, well, a lot of the family is already leaving. The family that’s leaving is the Guzmán López family, the family of Ovidio and Joaquín, who again have not had the leadership.
“Óscar Heisler, director of Homeland Security Investigations, also revealed to us how that structure was formed at the time, and they say, they’re old-school, the adults are very protective of the minors, so that’s why Jesús Alfredo and Iván Archibaldo are staying away, as if in some way to protect and make a deal, saying, you turn yourselves in, you negotiate, you get benefits, get out of here, get your family out, we’ll stay behind, practically shooting, continuing the war.”
It doesn’t necessarily mean they lost the war, although within the organized crime groups themselves, within both factions, it definitely denotes a symbol, a symptom of weakness. In other words, all the Guzmán Lópezes are leaving here, taking their families with them. That also means that within the hitmen, security chiefs, etc., it could be seen as a disbandment of the Chapitos group, and they could say, ‘If they left, imagine us, we have to leave too.’ That’s what it could be, but again, it doesn’t necessarily mean a weakening of the Chapitos Cartel.
What really happened to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada?
Luis Chaparro said that the founder and historical leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, was kidnapped and handed over to US authorities as part of an agreement reached by Joaquín Guzmán López in exchange for benefits for him and his family.
“We’ve published in Pie de Nota how a benefits agreement for Joaquín Guzmán López was made, an agreement that was made with one of the most important agencies, one of those with the greatest resources and greatest operations in the United States. I’m talking about HSI, Homeland Security Investigations, of which Oscar (Heisler) was director. Furthermore, we spoke about it even ahead of time. Other sources from the same agency had previously revealed to me how that deal was made between the agency and Joaquín Guzmán López, the benefits that were offered to him at the time, somewhat deceitfully, because people can’t offer benefits to any criminal, to any source, although they can make recommendations to the Prosecutor’s Office, to say, this person is willing to testify, to talk, to give us information, and in this case, to give us a target as important as Mayo Zambada.”
For Luis Chaparro and his team at Pie de Nota, there’s no doubt how the kidnapping of “Mayo” Zambada was carried out through Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), after reaching an agreement with Joaquín Guzmán López.
Among the benefits, of course, would be trying to get Ovidio Guzmán the same benefits. It was a kind of sacrifice for his brother, saying, “I’m turning myself in, I’m handing this guy (Zambada) over to you,” the two of us talk, we’re both enrolled in a Witness Protection program, but Ovidio has to receive those benefits so he can be released like Joaquín Guzmán López.
The beginning of the end for the Sinaloa Cartel?
The surrender of 17 relatives of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán to US authorities, led by Griselda López Pérez, is, for the Pie de Nota journalist, the beginning of what could be the collapse of one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Mexico and the world.
I believe this is just beginning; we are just seeing the beginning of what would be the end of the Sinaloa Cartel as we know it. That cartel, led jointly by El Chapo and Mayo, a cartel with extreme control, not just over Sinaloa, but over much of Mexico, with proxies in many other countries.
“Today, they’re fighting; there’s a civil war, and the new war that will be fought within the Sinaloa Cartel will be fought in the courts of the United States, and that’s where we’ll begin to understand things that we may not have understood 10 years ago, about how the criminal organization is run, but also about narcopolitics.”
Source: aristeguinoticias
