The Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse in Chicago, Illinois, on December 1, 2025. Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP/Getty Images AP —

A son of notorious Mexican drug kingpin “El Chapo” pleaded guilty Monday to US drug trafficking charges, months after his brother entered a plea deal.

Known locally in Mexico as the “Chapitos,” or “little Chapos,” Joaquin Guzman Lopez and his brother, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, are accused of running a faction of the Sinaloa cartel. Federal authorities in 2023 described the operation as a massive effort to send “staggering” quantities of fentanyl into the US.

Joaquin Guzman Lopez pleaded guilty to two counts of drug trafficking and continuing criminal enterprise.

Joaquín Guzmán López US Department of State/AP

He and another longtime Sinaloa

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