U.S.-wanted nephew of notorious cartel boss “El Chapo” is captured in Mexico

The nephew of notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was captured in an operation in Mexico, security authorities said Tuesday.

The suspect, identified only as Isai “N,” was arrested in the northern border state of Sonora and is sought by U.S. authorities, top security official Omar Garcia Harfuch said on X.

Harfuch also said 687 kilos of cocaine, 151 guns and 18 grenades were seized at a separate location.

“These actions reflect the permanent coordination of the Mexican State to apprehend priority targets and weaken the operational capabilities of criminal groups,” he wrote on X.

Extradited in 2017 after escaping twice from Mexican prisons, El Chapo is serving a life sentence at a maximum security facility in Colorado on multiple charges including drug trafficking and money laundering.

Earlier this month, court records revealed that El Chapo pleaded for U.S. court authorities to transfer him back to his country of birth, citing his “cruel punishment.”

The co-founder of the infamous Sinaloa cartel has repeatedly complained in previous prison letters of isolation, poor conditions in his cell and the lack of family visits. In 2023, he appealed to then President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for help due to alleged “psychological torment” that he said he was enduring in prison.

El Chapo is incarcerated at the “Supermax” prison in Florence, Colorado, which has held a number of high-profile inmates, including Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and Oklahoma City bombing accomplice Terry Nichols. The facility is so secure, so remote and so austere that it has been called the “Alcatraz of the Rockies.”

El Chapo’s associates have unleashed a war over control of the Sinaloa cartel against factions tied to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the co-founder of the group who is also awaiting trial in the United States.

Last month, Mexican soldiers captured three of El Chapo’s brother’s closest allies in an operation backed by U.S. intelligence. His brother, Aureliano Guzman Loera, known as “El Guano,” still has a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head