Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, the eldest son of notorious drug trafficker Chapo Guzmán, allegedly evaded capture by fleeing through an underground tunnel during an operation carried out in early 2025 in Culiacán de Rosales, Sinaloa. This information was revealed by the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in a report published on May 12, 2025.
Known as “El Chapito,” Iván Archivaldo is identified as one of the main leaders of “Los Chapitos,” a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel that also includes his brothers Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, Joaquín “El Güero Moreno,” and Ovidio Guzmán López, the latter three of whom are already in custody in the United States. The WSJ reported that during the operation, Mexican special forces raided a safe house where they found evidence of Guzmán Salazar’s recent presence. Cartel merchandise
In the building’s bathroom, they discovered a closet concealing a lighted tunnel, wide enough to be traversed on foot, that extended for three blocks until it ended at an uninhabited house. According to sources cited by the newspaper, “El Chapito” left the scene leaving behind more than 15 cell phones, laptops, family photos, and sports memorabilia, such as caps autographed by American baseball players.
A Mexican official explained to the WSJ that the tunnel extended three blocks to an uninhabited house, and that Guzmán’s escape was made possible thanks to an extensive protection network comprised of hitmen and informants distributed throughout the city. The report, written by journalists Steve Fisher and José de Córdoba, describes how “everyone, from tamale vendors to windshield wipers, are Guzmán’s eyes as he evades authorities.”
However, Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection Omar García Harfuch denied on February 25 that Guzmán Salazar had escaped through a tunnel. During a press conference with President Claudia Sheinbaum, García Harfuch clarified that the main objectives of the operation referred to in the report were the arrest of Kevin Alonso “N,” alias “El 200”—head of security for “Los Chapitos,” captured on February 20—and José Ángel Canobbio Inzunza, alias “El Güerito,” leader of the hitman group “Los Chimales,” arrested the day before. The secretary asserted that there has been a steady weakening of “Los Chapitos” and “Los Mayos,” referring to internal divisions within the Sinaloa Cartel. Cartel merchandise
While the United States maintains a $10 million reward for information leading to the capture of Iván Guzmán Salazar, his brothers, Ovidio and Joaquín, continue to negotiate plea deals with the U.S. government. Their father, “El Chapo” Guzmán, remains sentenced to life in prison in a maximum-security prison in Colorado.
