By Tim Hanlon
A son of notorious El Chapo aims to plead guilty to drug trafficking charges in the US as a violent power struggle rages in the Sinaloa Cartel – leading to 30 deaths in a single day. Prosecutors allege Ovidio Guzman Lopez , along with his brother, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, ran a faction of the cartel known as the “Chapitos,” or little Chapos, that exported fentanyl to the United States. Ovidio Guzman Lopez’s father is Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the former leader of the Sinaloa cartel who smuggled mountains of cocaine and other drugs into the United States over 25 years. Ovidio Guzman Lopez was arrested in Mexico in 2023 and extradited to the United States. He was charged in federal court in Chicago with money laundering, drug and firearm offenses. He previously pleaded not guilty, but online court records indicate he is scheduled to appear in court on July 9 to change his plea as part of a deal with prosecutors. Court documents filed on Tuesday indicate he intends to plead guilty after word of a possible deal was disclosed during an October hearing. Ovidio Guzman Lopez would be the first of the brothers to enter a plea deal. Joaquin Guzman Lopez is also in US custody. He and another long time Sinaloa leader, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, were arrested last July in Texas after they landed on a private plane. Joaquin Guzman Lopez has pleaded not guilty to charges including money laundering, drug dealing and conspiracy to distribute drugs. Zambada also pleaded not guilty. The men’s dramatic capture prompted a surge in violence in Mexico’s northern state of Sinaloa as two factions of the Sinaloa cartel clashed. The state of Sinaloa had its most violent day on Monday with 30 murders, following the beginning of the war between rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel began on September 9, last year. It means that there were a total of 212 murders in the month of June, making it the most violent month in the history of Sinaloa. The State Attorney General’s Office, which confirmed that 30 people were found dead on June 30 and so far they have only opened eight investigation files into the murders. One of the most violent incidents occurred on the Culiac谩n-Los Mochis highway, where 16 bodies were found inside a pickup truck and four more were discovered hanging and decapitated from a vehicular bridge near the Diocesan Seminary. The 20 bodies found were also abandoned next to a narco-banner in which they threatened Iv谩n Archivaldo and the Los Chapitos faction. 鈥淭his message is for Iv谩n Archivaldo (鈥) This is for all the crazy people who follow the Chapozetas. We’ll be waiting for you here. Welcome to the new Sinaloa,鈥 the message read.