In 2019, Sinaloa Cartel founder El Chapo was sentenced to life imprisonment
The sons of infamous drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán and his cartel associates allegedly used corkscrews, electrocution and hot chili to torture their rivals, according to a recently released indictment. US Department of Justice. Some of his enemies have also reportedly been fed “dead or alive to tigers”.
according to a report by cbs news, Ovidio Guzmán López, Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar and Ivan Archivaldo Guzmán Sálazar — known as Chapitos or Little Chapos — were among 28 Sinaloa cartel members indicted last week in connection with a widespread fentanyl smuggling operation.
The indictment also details the brutal methods of torture and execution used by the cartel to exert power and intimidate enemies.
“Once these captives had obtained information, usually through torture, these individuals were killed—either by Chapitos or on their own instructions—and the bodies were disposed of throughout the region. Many of the victims were shot, others were fed. The indictment states that the tigers, dead or alive, “belong to Ivan and Alfredo.”
Prosecutors further claimed that two of El Chapo’s sons were involved in the arrest and death of two Mexican federal law enforcement officers in 2017. While one of them was interrogated and later executed, the other was subjected to horrific torture.
“For nearly two hours, Ninis members tortured Victim-5 by inserting corkscrews into his muscles, ripping him out of his muscles, and thrusting hot stakes into his open wounds and nose” before being shot by Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, the indictment alleges.
He also used electrocution and waterboarding to torture members of rival drug cartels as well as associates who refused to pay debts.
In 2019, El Chapo, the founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, was sentenced to life in prison in one case. maximum security prison in colorado, As the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel a jury convicted him of involvement in drug trafficking and multiple murder conspiracies. In January 2023, Ovidio Guzmán, nicknamed “El Raton” was also captured.
However, the cartel still remains one of the most powerful in Mexico, accused of exploiting an opioid epidemic by flooding communities with fentanyl, a synthetic drug about 50 times more potent than heroin.