Family of Mexican cartel underboss surrenders to FBI, strikes deal with US

Seventeen relatives of Sinaloa Cartel underboss Ovidio Guzman have struck a deal with the US after surrendering to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), said Mexican Security Chief Omar Garcia Harfuch on Tuesday.

In an interview with local media, the head of Mexico's security strategy said Guzman, son of former drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera and leader of Los Chapitos, a leading faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, reached a deal with the US State Department more than a year after his extradition from Mexico in September 2023.

According to the Mexican official, Griselda Lopez Perez, Guzman's mother and ex-wife of El Chapo, is wanted on drug trafficking charges in the US.

Harfuch also explained that the deal was only possible because there are no pending charges in Mexico against her or the other family members.

"The family that left was not a target, nor was it being sought by the Mexican authorities," said Harfuch.

The 17 relatives surrendered to the US government at the northwestern border in Tijuana, a border city across from San Diego, California, on May 9.

According to Harfuch, each Sinaloa Cartel family member carried two suitcases containing their belongings and a total of $70,000.

This mass surrender of the Guzman family follows Ovidio Guzman's extradition and the surrender of his brother, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, in July 2024.