Family of Imprisoned Mexican Drug Lord ‘El Chapo’ Flees to U.S. for Protection from Cartels

Reports indicate that family members of the imprisoned Sinaloa Cartel kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán fled from Mexico to the United States for protection from warring cartel factions.

Although U.S. officials have not confirmed reports of Griselda López, El Chapo’s ex-wife, arriving in the United States with her family, posts on X and various web sources mentioned rumors earlier this week that Griselda López and at least 16 members of her immediate family had turned themselves over to Customs and Border Protection authorities at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Griselda López Pérez, at 65, was born on August 19, 1959, and goes by the alias Karla Pérez Rojo. She was the second wife of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, with whom she had four children: Joaquín, Édgar, Ovidio, and Griselda Guadalupe.

Griselda Lopez is the mother of Ovidio Guzman, who is in U.S. custody and is set to plead guilty to federal charges. He will presumably cooperate with U.S. authorities. Some speculate that Ovidio may have already given valuable information and struck a deal to import his close family members under the witness protection program as part of a deal. Many believe that Griselda’s seeking refuge in the U.S. indicates that the Chapitos are losing the war against Los Mayitos.

Mexico’s defense secretary, Omar Garcia Harfuch, said in a recent Grupo Formula En Vivo interview with Ciro Gomez Leyva, “We must first highlight that Ovidio was 100% arrested in an operation conducted by the Mexican Army Special Forces. Once the Mexican army arrests Ovidio, Mexico delivers him for extradition to the United States.”

“As we all saw in the news, Ovidio began negotiations with the Department of Justice of the United States, and it is evident that his family is leaving for the United States because this negotiation is an opportunity that the Department of Justice has given them,” he stated.

Harfuch added:

Let’s also remember that this conflict in Sinaloa involves Ovidio and his brothers, who have pointed to other groups of criminal organizations. What is happening is an agreement between the defendant, Ovidio Guzman, and the United States. The 17-person family that left was neither objective or sought after by the Mexican authorities. Of course, the United States Department of Justice must share information with Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office. I repeat that those who stopped Ovidio are the Mexican Army, so that’s why, with the information you have, the 17 people who left were Mexican citizens who did not have an order of detention, with nothing stopping them from exercising their freedom to cross the United States. That’s how it was, that’s how it is, and they were already waiting for them in the United States.