Ovidio Guzman, 33 years old and son of the famous drug trafficker known as “El Chapo,” stood opposite him initial hearing in federal court for the Northern District of IllinoisChicago to learn more about the crimes he is accused of. “The mouse”, Using his nickname, he pleaded “not guilty” to drug trafficking and money laundering. He was extradited to this state by plane from Mexico on September 15, and although the first hearing on five felonies took place there, six more are pending in federal court in Manhattan in the Southern District of New York. All charges are criminal and are related to drug trafficking and running a criminal enterprise. The prisoners’ faces represent themA penalty that can range from 20 years in prison to life in prison (the same measure that his father, Joaquín Guzmán, is facing) because he is “one of the high-ranking members of the Sinaloa Cartel,” the immigration control agency accuses him. “Police investigations indicate that Ovidio and his brother, Joaquin Guzman Lopezoccupy command and control positions of their own drug trafficking organization – the Guzmán López Transnational Criminal Organization – as part of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Ovidio Guzmán managed to achieve this $1 billion in drug sales over the years, and the American justice system wants him to return this money and pay for his crimes. His criminal group would be associated with the manufacture, distribution and sale of Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more powerful than heroin and that is contributing to the United States going through the worst health crisis in its history.
Fentanyl is responsible for 66% of overdose deaths in North America and has become the country’s public enemy number one. In April, authorities first declared an “emerging threat” due to the drug’s combination with another equally deadly drug, xylazine, an animal tranquilizer that is also spreading rapidly through the streets of major cities. The delivery of “El Ratón” is a milestone. This is the first time a crime boss in the United States has responded to trafficking in deadly fentanyl 196 Americans die every day from this drug.
The prisoner’s criminal career began at the age of 18 and grew like a meteorite. According to US authorities, the young Mexican ran the first fentanyl laboratory in a very modest house in Culiacán in 2014, when he was just 24 years old. His father, “El Chapo” had ordered members of the cartel to begin researching a new synthetic drug in China. what they were talking about was much stronger than heroin. The illegal business appeared to be profitable and the criminal group began producing the first fentanyl pills under Ovidio’s direction. Once prepared, the pills were taken to a safe house in Tijuana to be sent to Los Angeles, California, and the rest of the country. “Since these early days, the cartel’s production of fentanyl has exploded and the demand for a very dangerous and potentially deadly drug has increased significantly,” the government states.
“El Ratón” arrived in the United States and was extradited from a prison in Altiplano, Mexico, on the same plane that transported his father to American soil. The little boy is currently in Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center, which is more than a prison but a space designed for reintegration. It has 27 floors, housing nearly 500 inmates, both men and women. The long, thin windows are grilleless and designed to let in natural light. There Ovidio Guzmán will have time to think about his two options: cooperate with authoritieswhich would mean denouncing his own brothers who led the criminal organization with him, or facing American justice and risk a life sentence.
