Mexico’s top security official confirmed this week that 17 family members tied to the Sinaloa Cartel crossed into the U.S. last week—reportedly under a secret deal brokered by the Trump administration as part of a broader legal negotiation involving cartel leader Ovidio Guzmán López.
Video footage captured the group—luggage in tow—walking across the Tijuana border checkpoint to waiting U.S. agents. Among them: Griselda Lopez Perez, ex-wife of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, and her daughter. The group’s entry appears to be tied to cooperation between Ovidio and the U.S. Department of Justice.
Ovidio, known as “The Mouse,” is one of El Chapo’s sons and alleged heirs to the cartel. He was extradited to the U.S. in 2023 on drug trafficking charges. Mexican officials say the family’s border entry is a clear sign that a deal was struck—likely as part of Ovidio’s cooperation with U.S. prosecutors in exchange for leniency.
This revelation came the same day the Trump DOJ unsealed new “narco-terrorism” indictments against other top cartel leaders, signaling a more aggressive legal strategy.
Still, critics are raising questions. While ordinary migrants face tight scrutiny at the border, cartel-linked relatives seem to have walked in without resistance. That’s raising eyebrows about who gets favors under the Trump administration—and what deals are being cut behind closed doors.
