Ovidio Guzmán López, commonly known as "El Ratón" or "El Nuevo Ratón", is a Mexican suspected drug lord and high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal group based in Sinaloa. He is the son of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, once considered Mexico's most-wanted drug lord.
Career
Guzmán López is a son of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. He has been involved in his father's drug trafficking business since he was a teenager, and has taken a prominent role of the Sinaloa Cartel after his father's arrest. He is thought to lead the cartel along with his brothers Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, Jesús Alfredo Guzmán, and Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, so on May 8, 2012, Ovidio Guzmán was sanctioned pursuant to the US Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. In February 2019, US authorities charged Ovidio Guzmán with conspiracy to import and distribute illegal drugs. Following an arrest warrant issued by a federal judge in Washington, DC for his arrest and extradition, Guzmán López was briefly arrested in Culiacán, Sinaloa, by members of the Mexican National Guard on 17 October 2019, setting off several gun battles in the city. Heavily armed cartel gunmen threatened mass civilian deaths, including an attack to the apartment complex housing the relatives of the localmilitary personnel. Hours later, Ovidio Guzmán was freed, with Mexican PresidentAndrés Manuel López Obrador saying he supported the decision in order to "prevent more bloodshed". The next month, however, one of the officers who arrested Ovido, identified as Eduardo N., was assassinated. On May 8, 2020, Santiago Nieto, head of Mexico's Financial Intelligence Unit, confirmed that the Government of Mexico froze millionaire accounts for Ovidio Guzmán, stating “We frozen Ovidio's accounts and 330 people linked to the cartel and we have filed the complaint with the Prosecutor's Office. We have also found strange things. " On May 30, 2020, cartel expert and former US federal marshal Robert Almonte claimed to the Daily Star that there were "credible reports" that Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, leader of the rival Jalisco New Generation Cartel recruited hired guns known as “Los 28” to track down and kill Ovidio and his two brothers Ivan Archivaldo and Jesus Alfredo. On June 24, 2020, it was revealed that El Chapo's sons now had the most influence over the Sinaloa Cartel, as Zambada was now "sick with diabetes."
