Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán became one of the world’s most notorious drug traffickers, and several of his sons have followed paths that have kept the Guzmán name in the headlines. But one of them has largely remained outside that spotlight.
His name is César Guzmán Salazar.
According to reporting by Infobae México, César is one of El Chapo’s lesser-known children and, unlike several of his brothers, there is no publicly documented evidence linking him to organized crime or drug trafficking. He has maintained a notably private profile while reportedly pursuing business activities.
César is the son of El Chapo and María Alejandrina Salazar Hernández, his first wife. The couple also had three other children: Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar and Alejandrina Gisselle Guzmán Salazar.
A different path
The limited public record surrounding César points toward business rather than the criminal world associated with his father.
In 2009, he entered the real-estate sector as a shareholder in JDOBLECG Construcciones, S.A. de C.V., a company registered in Zapopan, Jalisco. According to an investigation by El Universal cited by Infobae, César owned 80 percent of the company’s shares.
The company operated until 2012 and, according to the Infobae report, there were no indications of illicit activity or an investigation against César connected with the business.
He later became a partner with his sister Alejandrina Gisselle in Gissell Artículos Escolares y de Oficina, S.A. de C.V., a company that had originally been established by members of their mother’s family.
Despite his family’s notoriety, César has remained largely absent from public investigations involving the Guzmán family.
Infobae reports that he has not been publicly identified in investigations by Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the DEA or other U.S. agencies in connection with drug trafficking.
Even his identity is difficult to document
The lack of information about César extends to basic details of his professional life.
Infobae found several professional-license records in Mexico belonging to people named César Guzmán Salazar or with similar names. The records include individuals with backgrounds in financial administration, international finance and business management.
But there is an important caveat: there is no public information confirming that any of those professional records actually belongs to El Chapo’s son.
The same uncertainty surrounds a photograph that has circulated online and has been attributed to César. Infobae notes that the photograph has not been officially authenticated, meaning that even the image commonly associated with him cannot be definitively confirmed.
