A letter written from prison by Juan Francisco Picos Barrueta, alias “El Quillo,” as part of a civil lawsuit filed in the Southern District Court of California, reveals a previously unpublished account of the intense internal war within the Sinaloa Cartel following the split between the Dámaso faction and the sons of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known as “Los Chapitos.”
In the court document, reviewed by Ríodoce, Picos Barrueta accuses US agencies of endangering his life and requests political asylum in exchange for cooperating as a protected witness.
As part of his account, “El Quillo” maintains that Dámaso López Serrano was preparing his own surrender to the DEA, but also considered turning over Ismael Zambada García and Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar to US authorities if his faction lost the internal war.
The document signed by Picos Barrueta states that the definitive break between Dámaso López Serrano and the sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán originated at a party held on December 31, 2016, at the Portezuelos ranch in Badiraguato.
