Who Are The Immediate Family Members Of 'El Chapo' Guzmán Who Have Passed Away?

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

Being extradited and sentenced to spend the rest of his days in a maximum security prison is just one of the many difficulties that the co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel has had to face throughout his life.

Second capture of El Chapo Guzmán

The steep mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental saw the birth more than six decades ago of the man who would become not only one of the world's most famous and wanted drug traffickers but also the founder of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel: Joaquín Guzmán Loera.

El Chapo, as he is known worldwide, became a priority target for Mexican and U.S. authorities as he led his criminal organization to the top of drug trafficking in Mexico and other parts of the world.

However, living a life of illegality brought a host of consequences for the former drug trafficker, as, in addition to being extradited and sentenced to spend the rest of his days in the super maximum security prison ADX Florence, Guzmán Loera has also had to say goodbye to important members of his own family.

The death of Doña Consuelo Loera

Doña Consuelo', Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán's mother, passes away

The hands of the clock struck 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, December 10, when a rumor began to spread through the streets of Culiacán, Sinaloa and surrounding areas: El Chapo's mother had died.

The death of María Consuelo Loera Pérez was confirmed by lawyer José Luis González Meza in an interview with Rubén Mosso and Manuel Aceves for MILENIO.

According to initial reports, the death of the 94-year-old woman occurred after she had been hospitalized in a private medical center in Sinaloa's capital city in previous days.

It is suggested that her death was due to natural causes, however, no member of the Guzmán family or her legal representatives have provided any details about the matriarch's death.

Doña Consuelo, as the Sinaloa drug lord's mother was also known, passed away without having the opportunity to see her son again. Although she sent several letters to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the US Embassy, she was not granted permission to travel to the country where Joaquín Guzmán Loera is being held.

As of this writing, it is not known whether El Chapo has been notified of his mother's death, in one of the last letters he sent to Judge Brian M. Cogan, he denounced that prison authorities were keeping him incommunicado, among other violations of his human rights.

It will only be a matter of time before the co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel faces the death of his mother, from whom he did not have the opportunity to say goodbye, within the four walls of his cell. One more consequence of his historic criminal trajectory.

The Roses of Edgar Guzman Lopez

Edgar Guzman Lopez, the murdered son of "El Chapo".

Although the death of María Consuelo Loera Pérez occurred after the definitive arrest of her son, during the time that Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán remained free he had to face what is considered by the public opinion as one of the greatest pains: the death of his son.

It was 2008 and the lucrative business of the Sinaloa Cartel had prospered, however, betrayals and misunderstandings with some of its most important partners were also present and generated a bloody war between Guzmán Loera's criminal organization and that of his cousin Arturo Beltrán Leyva.

The breakup of the so-called Federation brought with it a series of violent episodes in Sinaloa and disputed territories. One of them occurred on the eve of Mother's Day in Culiacan.

Local press reports at the time state that on May 8, 2008, a hail of bullets hit the parking lot of a shopping mall located in the capital of Sinaloa. Although by that time bullets had already become part of everyday life in the city, no one imagined that that attack would forever mark not only the fate of El Chapo Guzmán but also that of his own children.

That night, gunshots caused the death of Edgar Guzman Lopez, the eldest son Joaquin Guzman Loera had with his second wife Griselda Lopez. The young man was accompanied by his cousins César Ariel Loera and Arturo Meza Cázares when an armed criminal cell shot them without any consideration.

The body of El Chapo's son was left lying on the asphalt next to a pool of blood and more than 500 shell casings, according to newspaper reports of the time.

Although there were multiple versions about the mastermind of Edgar Guzmán López's murder, recently Dámaso López Serrano -better known as El Mini Lic- gave an exclusive interview to the journalist Anabel Hernández, a specialist in drug trafficking, in which he detailed his version of the events.

According to the statements of the former friend and partner of El Chapo's sons, in those days there was a rumor that Arturo Beltrán Leyva's people would meet in the Culiacán shopping mall, high-ranking members of the Sinaloa Cartel planned and coordinated the attack.

Vicente 'Vicentillo' Zambada Niebla: El Mayo's Son Who Became a Sinaloa Cartel Leader

The brother of Joaquin and Ovidio Guzman Lopez went out that night without their radios or escorts, they were unaware of the plan to executed by gunmen from the same criminal organization as their father. According to El Mini Lic, it was Vicente Zambada Niebla -- the son of Ismael El Mayo Zambada -- who was in charge of authorizing the attack, a decision that generated tensions within the leadership of the so-called Pacific Cartel.

The grief for Joaquin Guzman Loera was so great that not only did he have a cenotaph built at the site where his son was gunned down, but it is also speculated that he ordered the purchase of all the red roses in Culiacan to bid him farewell.

The death of Edgar Guzman Lopez is engraved in the history of drug trafficking in Mexico as one of the most violent episodes that took place during the war between the Sinaloa Cartel and the Beltran Leyva Cartel. However, those close to the Guzmán family - such as Mini Lic - describe that event as one of the worst moments El Chapo went through, but which also marked the fate of his brothers Iván Archivaldo and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, as well as Ovidio and Joaquín Guzmán López.

Arturo Guzmán Loera, 'El Chapo's' younger brother

Arturo Guzmán Loera was the younger brother of 'El Chapo' Guzmán

The death of his younger brother was perhaps one of the first major consequences Joaquín Guzmán Loera faced as he began his criminal career.

It was in 1993 when the young Chapo was arrested by military personnel in Guatemala after he was accused by Mexican authorities of being behind the assassination of Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo in the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco.

At that time, the criminal leader was already in charge of several drug trafficking businesses, but he had also become a father with his first wife Alejandrina Salazar and second wife Griselda López.

Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman first arrested in 1993

Once arrested, El Chapo was held in the federal prison of Puente Grande and the leadership of his operations - and even his role as his father - was taken over by a man he trusted: his brother Arturo Guzmán Loera.

Better known as El Pollo, the youngest of Doña María Consuelo Loera Pérez's sons took care of El Chapo's lucrative business and children until the Sinaloa drug lord made his first major escape from prison in 2001, according to several local press reports.

The official versions of the authorities suggest that Joaquín Guzmán Loera left the prison hidden in a laundry cart, although there is speculation that he even left through the front door disguised as a guard or police officer.

Although many versions circulated, the truth is that authorities sought to redeem their mistake by deploying multiple operations against the Sinaloa Cartel, its main leaders and associates, including Arturo Guzmán Loera.

Thus, El Chapo's brother was apprehended along with two of his accomplices in the country's capital on charges related to cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking, in addition to being accused of being the mastermind of a 'narco tunnel' located on the border that ran from Tijuana, Baja California to San Ysidro, California.

El Pollo was held in the Federal Center for Social Readaptation (CEFERESO) No. 1 in Almoloya de Juárez, State of Mexico, which is considered the highest security prison in the country to prevent him from escaping like his brother.

According to statements made to Univision by a pilot who worked for El Chapo Guzman, the criminal leader sought to coordinate his younger brother's escape from El Altiplano prison, but never managed to complete the risky mission, a decision he would regret for the rest of his life.

Within the walls of the federal prison were also imprisoned some of the Sinaloa Cartel's most bitter enemies, such as Osiel Cardenas Guillen, former leader of the Gulf Cartel and founder of Los Zetas.

Former Gulf Cartel leader, Osiel Cárdenas Guillén

On December 31, 2004, gunshots were fired in the area of the locker rooms, causing an intense mobilization of prison authorities, who only managed to confirm another of the tragedies of El Chapo's life: Arturo Guzmán Loera had been murdered.

The initial reports pointed to another prison inmate as the person responsible for the murder. However, the man identified as José Ramírez Villanueva said he had been forced to commit the crime after receiving threats from Cárdenas Guillén, who at the time was speculated to have already established an alliance with Benjamín Arellano Félix.

El Chapo's immediate family members who have died are among the long list of tragedies that the Sinaloa drug lord has endured throughout his life and, while regrettable, are also part of the consequences he has paid in return for a storied criminal career.

Milenio