El Chapo

The DEA announced an international sting on the Jalisco New Generation cartel, but its boss, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, remains at large.

El Chapo

50 in Illinois, nearby among 600 busted in crackdown on drug cartel supplying Chicago

The DEA led a six-month international operation against the Jalisco New Generation cartel, which has grown more powerful in the Chicago area after El Chapo was caught.

By Frank Main

El Chapo

El Chapo case: Chicago twins Pedro and Margarito Flores who helped feds fail to get a break on sentencing

A federal judge rejected the request, which was revealed in court records made public Monday.

By Jon Seidel

El Chapo

Judge sentences ex-Sinaloa cartel lieutenant tied to ‘El Chapo’ to 28 years in prison

‘You were a serious drug conspirator at a high level,’ a federal judge in Chicago tells Jesus Raul Beltran Leon. ‘And I need to sentence you accordingly.’

By Jon Seidel

El Chapo

High-ranking Sinaloa cartel member offered $25K for beating of El Chapo’s godson, feds say

The details were revealed during a sentencing hearing in federal court in Chicago — and in the middle of it all was one of the city’s most notorious street gangs: the Four Corner Hustlers.

By Jon Seidel

El Chapo

‘El Chapo’ lieutenant seeks only a decade in prison, rather than life, citing torture after capture

Jesus Raul Beltran Leon was a top man in the Sinaloa cartel and pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy. Now, he now could face a new allegation that he offered to pay to have a witness beaten.

By Jon Seidel

A scene from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in 2001.

Letters to the Editor

Economy clicking? Invite all Americans to the party

By Letters to the Editor

Editorials

EDITORIAL: ‘El Chapo’ will rot in prison, but America’s drug abuse crisis rages on

The problem is not only illegal drugs such as heroin, but also the opioid-based pills of Big Pharma, which have been overprescribed and overused

By CST Editorial Board

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera as he was escorted to a helicopter in handcuffs by Mexican navy marines at a navy hanger in Mexico City on Feb. 22, 2014.

Nation/World

Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman sentenced to life in prison

A federal judge in Brooklyn handed down the sentence Wednesday, five months after the Sinaloa cartel chief’s conviction in an epic case that also highlighted Chicago’s role in his epic drug-trafficking empire.

By Associated Press

El Chapo

Another ‘El Chapo’ lieutenant pleads guilty in federal court in Chicago

Guadalupe Fernandez Valencia admitted drug and money-laundering conspiracies for the Sinaloa cartel, breaking down in tears.

By Jon Seidel

Vicente “El Vicentillo” Zambada-Niebla is one of the biggest druglords ever to be brought to justice in Chicago.

El Chapo

15-year prison sentence for once-powerful drug trafficker who helped feds in ‘El Chapo’ case

Prosecutors had recommended a 17-year sentence for Vicente Zambada-Niebla, the Sinaloa drug cartel’s logistics guru.

By Jon Seidel

Jack Riley, former Chicago head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Crime

Ex-DEA Chicago boss who hunted ‘El Chapo’ wrote of ‘uselessness’ of cartel logistics guru as a witness

Prosecutors lauded Vicente Zambada-Niebla’s help in urging a break on sentence. But Jack Riley describes frustration, disgust with Sinaloa cartel figure.

By Jack Riley | Former DEA Agent

Crime

Feds recommend 17 years in prison for top cartel figure who testified against El Chapo

Vicente Zambada-Niebla gave the U.S. government ‘unrivaled’ cooperation against drug lords, prosecutors say.

By Frank Main

Crime

‘El Chapo’ lieutenant Jesus Raul Beltran Leon pleads guilty to drug conspiracy

Jesus Raul Beltran Leon’s guilty plea scuttles a drug conspiracy trial set for next month.

By Jon Seidel

News

Reputed El Chapo lieutenant doesn’t want kingpin’s name uttered during his trial

Allowing prosecutors to mention El Chapo or the Sinaloa Cartel would prejudice jurors, lawyers for reputed cartel lieutenant tell judge in Chicago.

By Frank Main

News

Cartel lieutenant facing trial in Chicago greeted ‘El Chapo’ after escape: feds

A reputed Sinaloa drug cartel lieutenant who’s facing trial next month in a 9-year-old Chicago case was among the greeting party the first time that Mexican druglord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera escaped from prison in Mexico, federal prosecutors say.

By Frank Main and Jon Seidel

Ex-Chicago FBI boss: DEA agent’s El Chapo book ‘fiction’ regarding key meeting

By Robert Grant | Former FBI special-agent-in-charge

News

Ex-Chicago DEA boss who helped nail El Chapo seethed at slow action on drug war

Former Chicago DEA boss Jack Riley writes about making ‘El Chapo’ Chicago’s ‘Public Enemy No. 1' in new memoir ‘Drug Warrior,’ excerpted here.

By Jack Riley | Former DEA Agent

Crime

No escape? El Chapo likely off to ‘prison of all prisons’

In the world of corrections, there are inmates who pose security risks, and then there’s “El Chapo.”

By Jim Mustian | Associated Press

News

2 top cartel lieutenants still face a reckoning in Chicago in El Chapo case

Now that Mexican drug kingpin <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/el-chapo-jury-reaches-verdict/" target="_blank” rel="noopener

By Frank Main

Nation/World

Notorious drug lord ‘El Chapo’ convicted, with help from Chicago twins

Mexico’s most notorious drug lord, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, was convicted Tuesday of running an industrial-scale smuggling operation.

By Associated Press

Crime

After 11-week prosecution, El Chapo defense case clocks in at 30 minutes

Guzman could face life in prison if convicted of drug and murder conspiracy charges that his lawyers say are fabricated.

By Tom Hays | Associated Press

Crime

Drug lord who changed his face testifies against ‘El Chapo’

After he redid his face, investigators had to use voice recognition technology to make the positive identification needed for a search warrant.

By Tom Hays | Associated Press

Nation/World

‘El Chapo’ sent tons of drugs to U.S., bribed Mexican police official: witness

The drugs were then smuggled across the Mexico-U.S. border to Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, Miguel Ángel Martínez said.

By Kevin McCoy | USA Today

Nation/World

Witness says bloodshed and bribery rampant under ‘El Chapo’

Guzman, who was extradited to New York City early last year, has pleaded not guilty to drug-trafficking charges.

By Tom Hays | Associated Press

Crime

Judge admonishes El Chapo’s lawyer for opening statement

The defense lawyer’s opening statement riled Mexican presidents by accusing them of taking bribes.

By Tom Hays | AP

Crime

US trial of Mexican drug lord “El Chapo” gets underway

More than a dozen cooperating witnesses are scheduled to testify, including some who worked for Guzman’s Sinaloa cartel.

By Tom Hays | Associated Press

Crime

Likely El Chapo trial witness pleads guilty in Chicago

Vicente Zambada would know details about the inner workings of Guzman’s Sinaloa Cartel few others would know.

By Michael Tarm | Associated Press

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Crime

‘El Vicentillo,’ El Chapo’s ex-logistics guru, was a cartel big shot since teens

Vicente Zambada Niebla, who agreed to testify against “El Chapo” and Sinaloa cartel, was a player in the cartel since his teens, court filing says.

By Frank Main

News

With El Chapo in jail, DEA and Mexico focus on other cartels with Chicago ties

With El Chapo awaiting trial, another Mexican drug kingpin, known as El Mencho, has become Chicago’s biggest narcotics supplier, authorities say.

By Frank Main

Nation/World

Amid traffic worries, judge says no to moving El Chapo’s trial from Brooklyn

Judge won’t move “El Chapo” trial to Manhattan from Brooklyn. Lawyers argued heavy security, Brooklyn Bridge shutdown would hurt chance of fair trial.

By Associated Press