17 Cartel Family Members Cross into the U.S. Following Agreement with the Trump Administration

According to reports, the Trump administration allegedly reached an agreement with a former cartel leader in Mexico, permitting 17 of his family members to enter the United States.

Mexican Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch confirmed during a radio interview that the family of Ovidio Guzmán López, the son of the infamous cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, was granted entry into the U.S.

Guzmán López is among the brothers leading a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel following the imprisonment of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán in the United States. Video footage showed the family members crossing the border from Tijuana with their suitcases as U.S. agents waited nearby.

Speculation had been circulating last week that the younger Guzmán might plead guilty to avoid trial on multiple drug trafficking charges in the U.S., especially after his extradition in 2023.

García Harfuch verified the crossing of the family members in the radio interview, suggesting that Mexican authorities believed negotiations between Guzmán López and the U.S. government facilitated their passage.

He reasoned that this was likely because the former cartel leader, whose attorney stated in January that he had begun negotiations with U.S. authorities, had been implicating members of other criminal organizations as part of a cooperation deal.

This development coincides with an announcement from Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office that top leaders of the Sinaloa cartel are facing charges of “narcoterrorism.” U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon for the Southern District of California declined to comment on the deal but issued a warning.