#TheOtherJGL Chapter 4: The Ghost Of Culiacán

mica for cartelinsider.com

The Press Conference

The anticipation began to mount on Friday, April 14. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) staged a high-profile press conference, where they announced charges against the notorious cartel known as The Chapitos.

Intriguingly, this wasn’t the first significant event to occur on a Friday for Los Chapitos. The chaotic urban conflict known as the ‘Culiacanazo’ on October 17, 2019, the arrest of Ovidio Guzman (one of the leaders of The Chapitos) on January 3, 2023, and now these recent indictments, all coincidentally took place on a Friday. Below is a portion of the press conference.

‘At DEA, we decided to proactively target the criminal network that is most responsible for the fentanyl flooding our communities. We looked at our data, and the answer was clear—most of the fentanyl in the United States comes from the Sinaloa Cartel.

The DEA and our law enforcement partners took down the previous leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, Chapo Guzmán, or ‘El Chapo,’ who is now serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison for his crimes.

But El Chapo’s sons, Ovidio, Iván, and Alfredo, known as ‘Los Chapitos,’ became the new leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel.

They inherited a global drug trafficking empire, and they made it more ruthless, more violent, more deadly, and they used it to spread a new poison—fentanyl.’

The Official Slide from Press Conference

Forgotten Drug Lord

During the press conference, the DOJ and DEA showcased a series of slides outlining the structure and key members of The Chapitos cartel. One name, however, was notably absent: Joaquín Guzmán Lopez.

Joaquín Guzmán Lopez, the brother of the known leaders of The Chapitos, is a crucial figure in the narrative of this notorious crime syndicate.

He’s such an integral part of the operation that the DOJ and DEA themselves have placed a $5 million bounty for information leading to his arrest. Despite this, his image and name were conspicuously missing from the conference’s visual aids.

This omission leaves us puzzled. Why exclude Joaquín, a recognized member of the organization, from the presentation? Does this exclusion signify a lack of significant evidence against him, or does it suggest a different strategy from law enforcement agencies?

Furthermore, the DEA and DOJ did not just exclude Joaquín from their presentation; they seemingly erased him from their representation of The Chapitos’ leadership structure. His absence from the ‘circle of Chapitos’ on their slides raises questions about his perceived role in the cartel.

Does this mean Joaquín is considered less critical to the operation than his brothers? Or could it be that the authorities are prioritizing other targets within the organization? Either way, this glaring omission raises more questions than answers about the DEA’s and DOJ’s approach to dismantling The Chapitos.

Interestingly, the U.S. Department of Justice has assigned a $10 million reward each for information leading to the arrest of Iván and Alfredo Salazar. This is double the reward offered for Joaquín Guzmán Lopez.

This significant difference begs the question: Are the Salazar brothers considered twice as valuable to law enforcement agencies, or perhaps twice as elusive? Could their roles in criminal activities be seen as more consequential or harmful than Joaquín’s? This stark contrast in rewards once again raises questions about the strategies and priorities of these agencies in their pursuit of justice.

There is also an extradition list that the DOJ and DEA have prioritized to arrest and extradite Ovidio, Iván, Alfredo, and other high-ranking members of the Chapitos criminal organization. The priority extradition list does not include Joaquín, even though he has the second-highest reward.

My Brother Sins

Taking a closer look at the situation, we see Joaquín Guzmán Lopez is in an intriguing position. Despite being a founding member of The Chapitos, his bounty is less than that of his brothers and he’s absent from the priority arrest and extradition list.

It prompts us to wonder: Is Joaquín’s involvement in drug trafficking as significant as we are led to believe? Could it be that his role is less influential, or could there be other, less apparent, reasons behind his lower profile on law enforcement’s radar?

Interestingly, while Joaquín Lopez may have been glossed over during the press conference, the same day saw a major development in his case. The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division unsealed an indictment which listed Joaquín Guzmán Lopez, also known by his aliases ‘El Guero,’ ‘Guero Moreno,’ and ‘Moreno,’ as a defendant. He was named alongside Iván and Alfredo, raising even more questions about his perceived role and significance within the criminal organization.

According to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Joaquín Guzman Lopez uses several aliases, including ‘El Guero,’ ‘El Guero Moreno,’ and ‘El Moreno.’ His brother, Édgar Guzmán Lopez, was also known to go by the name ‘El Moreno.’

Yet, there’s something off about this. It’s as though the DOJ and DEA are attempting to associate Édgar Guzmán’s moniker – and by extension, his criminal activities – with Joaquín. Édgar, was becoming deeply involved in the narcotics trade, allegedly playing a more significant role in the family’s illicit empire before his untimely death. The effort to link Joaquín with his brother’s alias and crimes raises questions about the agencies’ motives.

Amidst all the confusion surrounding aliases and potential identity mix-ups, one fact remains clear-cut: Joaquín is known as ‘El Guero.’

The inclusion of ‘Beginning no later than in or about May 2008’ in the indictment raises intriguing questions. When Iván returned to Culiacán, he wasted no time in joining forces with his brother Alfredo and Édgar Guzmán Lopez, who was already working for their father, El Chapo. The lack of a specific start date in the indictment makes it challenging to determine whether Iván and Alfredo’s involvement occurred before or after the death of Édgar, also known as ‘El Moreno.’

This prompts us to consider a significant possibility: Are the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) trying to charge Joaquín for crimes committed by his late brother, Édgar? Is Joaquín potentially being targeted due to his familial association and the reputation of his family? These questions suggest the uncovering of a significant revelation where the government may be playing games.

Discovery Summary 
It appears that I have stumbled upon something significant, revealing potential manipulation or misdirection by the authorities. The implications of these findings could be substantial and challenge the fairness and legitimacy of the charges against Joaquín.

This chain of events raises another crucial question: Do we even have definitive evidence that Joaquín is truly a drug lord? Despite his association with the notorious Guzmán family and the criminal activities surrounding them, it is essential to critically evaluate the evidence against Joaquín.

The circumstances surrounding his inclusion in the charges and the potential misdirection in the indictment warrant careful scrutiny. Is Joaquín being portrayed as a drug lord simply due to his family ties, or is there concrete evidence of his direct involvement? This uncertainty challenges our understanding of Joaquín’s role within the criminal organization and prompts us to question the validity of the charges against him.

Research Over Hype!

The following chapters will cover Joaquín and the indictment.

Thanks for reading!
Mica