December 1st, 2025 - El Chapo’s Son Admits Role in Kidnapping Father’s Former Cartel Partner

Even by the dramatic standards of Mexican organized crime, the kidnapping of Ismael Zambada García stunned the country. Zambada García, one of Mexico’s most powerful drug lords, was abducted last year by Joaquín Guzmán López, the son of his former partner El Chapo, and taken across the border to U.S. authorities. Many people in Mexico, including government officials, doubted the story at first because it sounded too unbelievable to be real.

Those doubts faded on Monday when Guzmán López pleaded guilty in a federal courtroom in Chicago to a wide range of charges. During the hearing, he admitted that he had persuaded Zambada García to leave his hiding place and then had his own men place a bag over his head and bind his hands before flying him into El Paso, where U.S. agents were waiting. His cooperation with prosecutors was also confirmed in court.

The guilty plea is another major blow to the Sinaloa cartel, which has been struggling as both the Mexican government and rival criminal groups increase their pressure. The cartel was pushed so hard that it formed an unlikely alliance last summer with one of its biggest enemies. The plea also came at a time when the Trump administration’s actions in the international drug war appeared inconsistent, since the president recently announced a pardon for former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted of accepting bribes from El Chapo.

Most of the charges that Guzmán López admitted to were part of a 2023 indictment accusing him and his brothers, known collectively as Los Chapitos, of running their father’s branch of the cartel after El Chapo’s life sentence in 2019. Prosecutors say Guzmán López helped coordinate logistics for a massive trafficking operation that moved cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and marijuana into the United States for more than a decade. His brother Ovidio pleaded guilty in July and agreed to help investigators, although it is unclear what information he has given them.

Two other sons of El Chapo, Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, are still on the run in Mexico. They face threats from the authorities as well as from Zambada García’s family and allies. Their situation grew so dangerous that they reportedly struck a rare peace agreement with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, trading control over territory in exchange for protection. Several other high-ranking cartel members, including security leaders for Los Chapitos, are also facing charges in the United States.

While the drug trafficking charges are serious, the kidnapping of Zambada García stands out because of its dramatic nature. Zambada García, known as El Mayo, had long been considered untouchable. Guzmán López used his family connections to convince him to come out of hiding in 2024 for what he believed would be a meeting about political disputes. Instead, he was drugged, ambushed, and flown to U.S. custody. Prosecutors said the U.S. government did not request or approve the abduction, although Guzmán López had been speaking with the F.B.I. through a hidden communication channel.

According to prosecutors, Guzmán López hoped that turning in his father’s former partner would help reduce the sentences for both himself and his brother. However, the U.S. attorney handling the case made it clear that the government would not reward him for orchestrating the kidnapping. The judge will decide his final sentence at a later date.

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster) - Pseudonym (noun, SOO-duh-nim) - A pseudonym is a name that someone (such as a writer) uses instead of their real name.

Example: Bell hooks is the pseudonym of the American writer Gloria Jean Watkins.

Image credit: Unsplash