Joaquín Guzmán López, son of El Chapo Guzmán, pleads guilty in a US court

On Monday, December 1st, 2025, in room 1241 of the Chicago (Illinois) federal court, Joaquín Guzmán López —son of drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán— changed his plea before Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman and pleaded guilty.

Guzmán López had been arrested in July 2024, in an operation that also included the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, after arriving in a private plane in Texas. On that occasion, Guzmán López denied the charges —which included drug trafficking, money laundering, and the use of weapons—, but after negotiations with the prosecution, he modified his position. With this statement, he becomes the second son of "El Chapo" to accept responsibility before the American justice system, after his brother Ovidio Guzmán López did the same in July 2025. The decision represents a significant turn in the cartel case: Guzmán López was part of the group known as Los Chapitos, who reassumed control of the Sinaloa Cartel after the arrest of their father. The charges against him include drug trafficking, money laundering, and the use of firearms, linked to the sale and distribution of drugs such as fentanyl to the United States. This context, added to the cooperation of the accused with the authorities, opens the possibility that Guzmán López may access judicial benefits such as sentence reduction, witness protection, or collaboration in broader investigations against the criminal network.