Ovidio Guzmán pleads his guilt in the United States court

A federal court in Chicago once again postponed the hearing of Ovidio Guzmán, son of Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán. The new date was set for October 28, after the appointment scheduled for July 27 was rescheduled without official explanation.

The leader of the Los Chapitos faction, within the Sinaloa Cartel, pleaded guilty in July 2025 to four federal charges for drug trafficking and organized crime. Now, in this intermediate hearing, it will be reviewed whether the prosecution maintains its intention to request a reduction in sentence, derived from the plea agreement and cooperation reached with the US government.

Cooperation agreement

As part of the pact, Ovidio Guzmán agreed to provide complete and truthful information in any investigation and pre-trial preparation. He also agreed to testify in criminal, civil or administrative proceedings as required by the prosecutors’ offices of the Northern District of Illinois, the Southern District of California, the Southern District of New York and the Narcotics Section of the Department of Justice.

In addition, he was forced to pay 80 million dollars, an amount estimated as the product of his illicit activities. Full cooperation could result in a reduced sentence.

The case remains in the hands of Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman, who has presided over the process since its beginning. The defendant’s defense has not commented on the new postponement.

The United States Department of State returned to the Mexican ambassador in Washington, Roberto Lazzeri, the diplomatic notes that sought to direct the actions of US agents on North American soil.

“Kozak returned letters from Mexico intended to direct the actions of US government personnel operating in sovereign territory of the United States. He also recommended that Mexico express its concerns through diplomatic channels, as is customary,” the Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs reported in X.

The meeting was led by senior official Michael Kozak with the Mexican ambassador, according to the same agency.

Bilateral tension

Mexico had sent those letters as part of a series of protests over the treatment of migrants. President Claudia Sheinbaum stated that so far these letters “have not produced results.”

The relationship between both countries is going through a delicate moment. In addition to immigration differences, there is a suspicion that the FBI participated in the capture of an organized crime leader, which would have violated Mexican sovereignty.

The United States is Mexico’s main trading partner: 80% of its exports are destined for that country, with which it shares a free trade agreement.

Actions of the Foreign Ministry

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) reported that, following what was announced by the president, the Embassy and the consulates presented requests to state prosecutors’ offices. This occurs after the death of 17 compatriots in custody or in operations of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) was reported.

Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco explained that the procedures were carried out last Monday, although he did not specify the states where the complaints were filed.

New testimony in the investigation into the tax evasion network within the Ministry of the Navy indicates that one of its heads sought the support of Rafael Ojeda Durán, Secretary of the Navy during López Obrador’s six-year term, to authorize a ship with smuggled fuel.

After the seizure of the Challenge Procyon ship in March 2025 in Tampico, Miguel Ángel Solano Ruiz, alias “Capitán Sol,” told a military officer from the customs in Guaymas, Sonora, that he would speak with Ojeda Durán to “control the situation” of the Torn Agnes, another vessel loaded with illegal fuel that had arrived at the border port.

The new testimony

The witness, identified with the initials J.C.S.P., belongs to the Navy and worked with ship captain Luis Alfredo García Arellano Villegas, then in charge of the Guaymas customs. According to their statement, to which EL PAÍS had access, this duo managed the entry of the Seaways Citron ship in October 2023, an operation that “was already agreed upon in central areas” and had authorization from the Farías Laguna brothers, nephews of Ojeda Durán.

At that time, Captain Sol indicated how to distribute a bribe of 2.5 million pesos between civil and military customs officials. The statement details that they kept the money in the weapons storage room of the premises.

The defense of Ojeda Durán’s nephews—Roberto Manuel and Fernando Farías Laguna, accused of leading the plot—asked the authorities for the former secretary to testify. The request, submitted in early June, was not granted. The lawyers argued that the new testimony suggests that Ojeda Durán not only knew the facts, but “presumably could be related.”

Another key evidence is the handwritten letter that Fernando Rubén Guerrero Alcántar, a soldier involved, gave to Ojeda Durán in June 2024. In an audio published by Aristegui Noticias, Ojeda Durán is heard offering him a kind of pact of silence: “Either we uncover all this and I don’t care who falls… or we try to close it here ourselves.” Guerrero Alcántar was deprived of his life five months later, in November 2024, and his letter did not reach the Prosecutor’s Office until July 2025.

The Government has tried to separate Ojeda Durán from the case, but the dates and facts place him at the center. The Prosecutor’s Office did not respond to questions about this new evidence; The Secretary of the Navy said that it maintains collaboration but is not the “competent authority” to report.