Mexican drug lord El Chapo's son Ovidio Guzman pleads not guilty to US trafficking charges

Ovidio Guzman, the son of incarcerated Mexican drug lord El Chapo, haspleaded not guilty to US fentanyl trafficking charges. 33-year-old Guzman made the plea while appearingbefore a federal court in Chicago on Monday (September 18), wearing an orange jumpsuit,three days after extradition from Mexico.

Known as"El Raton" or "The Mouse", Guzman is one ofEl Chapo's four sons and inherited his father's criminal and trafficking empire after he was convicted onmurder and drug charges in 2019.El Chapo is currentlyserving life in a supermax prison in the state of Colorado.

Two of the six counts that Guzman faced in the court, carry a mandatory life sentence. Despite the extent of his crimes, the drug lord'sheir will not receive capital punishment after the prosecutors agreed to not pursue the penalty as part ofextradition negotiations with Mexico. He will be held without bail until the trial after waving his right to a detention hearing.

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Outside the courtroom, Guzman's lawyers told the reporters that his client was"not planning on cooperating against his brothers", who are some of the world's most wanted drug lords.

Watch |Mexico drug lord son Ovidio Guzman to face drug smuggling charges

Guzman's criminal history

Guzman was arrested first in 2019 in Culiacan but was released on the orders of the government to avoid bloodshed after the Sinaloa cartel retaliated. He was again captured in January this year following an intense firefight in Sinaloa.

The Joe Biden administration had asked for Guzman's extradition in February so he could face drug charges in a US court.

Collectively known asLos Chapitos, or “the little Chapos,” the four siblings set up the first fentanyl lab around 2014. Since then, they have"overseen theexplosion of their fentanyl trafficking activity and profits", according to the unsealed indictment filed by the prosecutors.

Fentanyl is a highly addictive synthetic opioid that hasbeen responsible for the death of nearly 200 Americans a day, which has led to the straining of ties between the US and Mexico.

Notably, Ovidiowas extradited to the USjust days after his father's wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, was released from a halfway house in California after serving nearly two years of a three-year prison sentence for drug trafficking and money laundering.

Coronel, 34, who is not Ovidio's mother, is a dual US-Mexican citizen. FBI confirmed she had been released last weekfrom a low-security confinement institution in Los Angeles.

(With inputs from agencies)

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