A federal grand jury in Chicago has indicted an adviser to a son of "El Chapo," the imprisoned former leader of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel.
Jose Angel Canobbio Inzunza, 44, was charged with drug conspiracy in a five-page indictment returned on Monday.
Canobbio Inzunza — also known as "Guero," "Guerito," and "El 90" — is believed to be living in Mexico. Authorities issued a warrant for his arrest.
According to U.S. prosecutors, he was the principal adviser, lieutenant and security chief for Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, one of the sons of Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, who’s serving a life sentence in a maximum security federal prison in Colorado.
The indictment accuses Canobbio Inzunza of conspiring with the brothers — known as the Chapitos, or Little Chapos — to manufacture cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine and marijuana in Mexico and import the drugs into the U.S.
Canobbio Inzunza financed and led an armed security group known as Los Chimales, which provided security for the Guzman faction of the Sinaloa cartel, authorities said.
Four of Guzman’s sons were charged last year in Chicago with running his drug empire after El Chapo was captured in 2016 in Mexico. Charged in the federal indictment were Joaquin Guzman Lopez, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar and Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar.
Charges against the Chapitos are part of a wider Justice Department campaign against what Attorney General Merrick Garland called “the largest, most violent and most prolific fentanyl-trafficking operation in the world — run by the Sinaloa cartel and fueled by Chinese precursor chemical and pharmaceutical companies.”
Last year's indictment said the brothers were involved in the Battle of Culiacan in the Sinaloa cartel’s stronghold in Mexico where, on Oct. 17, 2019, about 700 armed cartel members attacked government and military targets, thwarting the capture of Ovidio Guzman Lopez. At least 13 people died.
That indictment also said the Chapitos shipped drugs from countries in Central America and South America to Mexico using aircraft, submarines, boats and other carriers, then smuggled them into the United States using vehicles, railcars and tunnels.
Joaquin Guzman Lopez surrendered to U.S. authorities in July and remains in federal custody in Chicago. Joaquin Guzman Lopez flew to the U.S. with Sinaloa cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia, whose lawyer accused Guzman Lopez of kidnapping El Mayo and transporting him to the U.S.
Mexican authorities extradited Ovidio Guzman Lopez to Chicago in 2023. His lawyer said last month that his client is negotiating a plea deal with prosecutors.
The State Department has posted a $10 million bounty for the arrest of Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar and Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar.
