On July 9, Ovidio Guzmán López will appear in federal court in Chicago to formally plead guilty to the drug trafficking charges the United States government is accusing him of.
The hearing, which would begin to put an end to the story that began with his extradition in September 2023, has been surrounded by a silent negotiation: that of a son of a drug trafficker who offers information in exchange for a reduced sentence and protection for his family.
Behind this judicial process lies a less visible story: that of a father who, for years, tried to prevent his son from ending up in the same conditions he did.
The first attempt dates back to 1998. At that time, El Chapo was imprisoned in Puente Grande and, according to Óscar Balderas in an article published in Milenio, he ordered his son Ovidio to be transferred to Mexico City to remove him from the influence of drug trafficking.
The eight-year-old boy was enrolled in the CEYCA school of the Legionaries of Christ, a Catholic institution located in the south of the capital. The decision was also influenced by his religious maternal grandmother, Consuelo Loera.
For two years, Ovidio lived with his mother, Griselda López, under the pretext of being the son of an absentee rancher. He joined the basketball team and played defensive end in soccer.
But in 2000, amid suspicions about his true identity, a group of mothers voted to prevent him from attending a school trip to Disney. Griselda, fearing for his safety, decided to take him out of school and return with him to Culiacán, the journalist says.
The second effort came later. According to the testimony of Dámaso López Serrano, alias El Mini Lic, cited by Anabel Hernández, El Chapo tried to lure Ovidio away from drug trafficking three times. One of those avenues was to enroll him in university, where Ovidio studied with his brother Joaquín, in an attempt to provide them with a different education.
According to a military report cited by Balderas, Ovidio aspired to become a veterinarian. But that path was cut short at age 19, shortly after the murder of his brother, Édgar Guzmán López, in 2008. From then on, Ovidio became fully involved in the operations of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Since his recapture in January 2023 and subsequent extradition, Ovidio has displayed behavior very different from that expected of a criminal leader.
According to reports from the Altiplano prison, collected by Óscar Balderas, the junior drug trafficker requested psychiatric medication to treat anxiety and depression, as well as a special diet following reflux surgery.
A guard interviewed by the aforementioned journalist described him as an inmate who was “polite, nervous, quiet, and exhibited no problematic behavior.” During his time in prison, he spoke little, but when he did, it was about his wife, Adriana Meza Torres, and his daughters, whom he said he missed deeply.
At the same time, Ovidio was making progress in negotiations with the Department of Justice. According to security expert David Saucedo, the points El Ratón allegedly negotiated would include:
*Avoiding a maximum-security prison
*Enter into the witness protection program
*No criminal prosecution of his immediate family
*Providing information on cartel routes and collaborators
*Possibility of a sentence reduction if he cooperates in future trials
