“El 18” has fallen into the hands of the FBI. Unlike his first arrest in the United States in 2017, this time Washington has a high-profile case against Irving Freeland León Alvarado.
He has been identified as a member of the security detail for Ovidio Guzmán López—known as “El Ratón”—one of the former leaders of the “Chapitos” criminal cell. León was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in January 2026 for marijuana possession, a misdemeanor offense.
However, once authorities entered his name into their databases, the Department of Justice requested his formal arrest so he could be brought before a judge to answer to one count of methamphetamine production and trafficking, and another count of firearm possession.
“El 18″—the alias under which he allegedly operated within the Chapitos faction—did not hesitate to boast that, back in Sinaloa, he served as the personal bodyguard for Ovidio Guzmán López. With evident pride, he confided the details of his criminal activities to one of his romantic partners.
She subsequently became a cooperating witness for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the agency spearheading the inquiry against Irving León. The lead investigator on the case is José Luis Felipe Ayala, a Special Agent assigned to Squad CR3—a division specializing in tracking international drug trafficking organizations.
Agent Felipe Ayala initiated the case in September 2025, when a confidential source approached the FBI in Washington. The source—who was born and raised in Sinaloa—stated that she had known Irving León since June 2024 and that they moved in similar social circles.
According to her account, they began seeing each other almost daily and eventually entered into a romantic relationship—one that grew to such an extent that her partner confessed his involvement in the world of drug trafficking.
More specifically, he revealed that he worked with the Sinaloa Cartel, serving as a key component of the security apparatus for one of the sons of the cartel’s founder, Joaquín Guzmán Loera—”El Chapo.”
According to the case file, when “El Ratón” was arrested on January 5, 2023, in Jesús María, Culiacán, “El 18” was reassigned as a personal bodyguard for Ovidio Guzmán’s immediate family.
According to the report, Irving León began working as a lookout (*halcón*) for the cartel after being deported from the United States in 2018—one year before he was arrested for marijuana distribution.
In this way, he gradually earned the trust of his employers until Ovidio Guzmán decided to make him part of his security detail. A cell phone that had belonged to “El 18’s” ex-partner was also turned over to the FBI; from it, agents were able to extract a photograph of the man—dated July 19, 2024—holding a Barrett rifle and wearing tactical gear.
The FBI agent determined that there was sufficient evidence consistent with León Alvarado’s role as a bodyguard for “Los Chapitos” and as an overseer of certain drug-trafficking operations.
Source: Milenio
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