The fugitive sons of Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán reportedly organized a bash ahead of Christmas Day as cars were raffled and gifts were handed out to residents in the western Mexico state of Sinaloa.
Videos of the narco fiesta, which recently took place in an unknown town in the city of Culiacán, showed several bands performing live for the invitees, including those who were lucky enough to drive home in eight brand new cars.
Footage showed also rows of toys, and other items piled up with a black sticker bearing El Chapo’s initials.
The event held by the jail drug lord’s four sons, Ovidio Guzmán López, Joaquín Guzmán López, Ivan Archivaldo Guzmán, Jesús Alfredo Guzmán – otherwise known as Los Chapitos – was in commemoration of the ‘posada,’ a religious tradition celebrated in Mexico and Latin America that recalls the journey that Mary and Joseph took on in search of a safe refuge for Mary to give birth to Jesus.
The posadas can be celebrated anywhere between December 16th and December 24th, but the precise date and place of outdoor festivals are not known.
‘We do not have information about any posada that Mr. Guzmán’s children have made,’ a Culiacán police official told online news outlet Grillonautas.
At a recent party organized by El Chapo’s sons, who were wanted by the United States for drug trafficking, a band performed. The party was held in Culiacán as attendees took home cars, toys and appliances
El Chapo’s four sons, who are from Mexico, gave away eight vehicles at least before Christmas Day in a Sinaloa event.
Ovidio Guzmán-López (left) and Joaquín Guzmán-López (right), two of El Chapo’s four sons who have assumed control of the Sinaloa Cartel while he serves a life sentence in the United States
Jesús Alfredo Guzmán-Salazar (left) and Ivan Archivaldo Guzmán-Salazar (right ) rose to prominence in the Sinaloa Cartel soon after their father, Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, was sent to prison
According to a Jalisco official, the state’s public security officer said that they weren’t aware of any public events by El Chapo and the cartel but it was normal for them as they are familiar with the north region.
The cartel held a similar event in December 2020 in San Diego, a neighborhood in the Culiacán of borough of El Dorado. Due to COVID-19 restrictions that prohibit mass gatherings, the military shut down that party which attracted as many as 800 attendees.
The son follows the footsteps of Pablo Escobar (his father’s former associate), who gave lavish presents as a gesture of gratitude for those who remained loyal to him during Christmas.
Colombian drug lord Escobar ordered construction of over 200 houses for families in need living in Moravia’s Medellin Slum. He also constructed more than 50 soccer fields. Also, he ordered his men to deliver loads of gifts before Christmas.
Following last Wednesday’s announcement by the U.S. Department of State that they were offering $4 million in rewards for any information which could help to arrest Los Chapitos and/or convict them, the leaked videos follow.
‘For years, the United States has been in the grips of the worst drug epidemic in its history, driven by overdose deaths involving heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl and an increase in methamphetamine availability,’ the Department of State said in a statement. ‘Transnational criminal organizations are largely responsible for bringing these drugs and related violence to our communities.’
Ivan Archivaldo Guzmán-Salazar and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán-Salazar were born after their kingpin father married Alejandrina María Salazar Hernández in 1977.
Ovidio Guzmán-López and Joaquín Guzmán-López were born out of El Chapo’s marriage in the 1980s to Griselda López Pérez, with whom he had two other children, Édgar and Griselda Guadalupe.
El Chapo’s sons distributed toys and bicycles to Sinaloa citizens recently.
At an outdoor concert by El Chapo’s sons, attendees were treated with live entertainment.
El Chapo is currently serving a life sentence in a Colorado federal supermax facility.
The Department of State said Guzmán-Salazar brothers rose to power in the Sinaloa Cartel took place after their father was arrested and subsequently extradited to the United States, where he was convicted and is now facing a life sentenced at a Colorado super maximum facility prison.
The Guzmán-Salazar siblings, federal investigators allege, ‘provided significant operational assistance to their father, including coordinating the transport of narcotics from Central and South America to Mexico; coordinating the transport of narcotics into the United States; distributing drugs to wholesale customers in the United States; and collecting drug proceeds from customers in the United States for transfer to Mexico for the benefit of Sinaloa Cartel members and associates.’
Meanwhile, the Guzmán-López brothers came into prominence following the murder of their brother, Édgar, who was murdered in May 2008.
They established the Guzmán-López Transnational Criminal Organization under the cartel and invested their money into the purchase of marijuana in Mexico and cocaine from Colombia that later trafficked into the United States. As they ventured into methamphetamine manufacturing, the brothers bought huge amounts of ephedrine with suppliers from Argentina.
The Guzmán-López currently run about 11 methamphetamine secret laboratories throughout the family home state of Sinaloa. Their network produces around 3,000 to 5,000 pounds of methamphetamine on a monthly basis before its sold to other Sinaloa Cartel members as a well distributors who operate for the criminal organization in the United States and Canada.
Of the four siblings, Ovidio Guzmán López is the only one who came close to joining his father in a U.S. prison.
He escaped being extradited to the United States on October 17, 2019 when the Mexican military tracked him down to a home in Culiacán, Sinaloa, after an arrest warrant was issued by a Washington, D.C., federal court judge as the U.S. sought to dismantle the cartel’s alleged fentanyl trafficking operations.
El Chapo’s set home appliances next to the stage of an outdoor party for boys, called Los Chapitos. The event was held for Sinaloa residents.
However, chaos ensured in the streets of Culiacán as cartel fighters led an assault that overwhelmed the armed forces and local police, who were met with grenade launchers and rifles.
Video showed Ovidio Guzmán López instructing Iván Archivaldo Guzmán via a phone to order their operatives to stand down.
Under orders of President López Obrador, security forces released Ovidio Guzmán López and withdrew from the residence.
At least 13 victims had died in the attack on military likeness that cartel henchmen waged. They also abducted military officials and released them.