Son of 'El Chapo' extradited to Chicago

CHICAGO - The son of drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera has been extradited to Chicago from Mexico.

The Justice Department issued a statement Friday saying that Ovidio Guzman Lopez was extradited to the United States.

Earlier this year, four of "El Chapo's" sons were charged in a federal indictment, alleging they took control of their father’s empire after his arrest and strengthened their grip over the cartel through brutal violence.

The charges against the four men, known as the "Chapitos," are part of a wider Justice Department campaign against what Attorney General Merrick Garland called "the largest, most violent and most prolific fentanyl trafficking operation in the world — run by the Sinaloa Cartel and fueled by Chinese precursor chemical and pharmaceutical companies."

Charged in Chicago were Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, Joaquin Guzman Lopez and Ovidio Guzman Lopez. The men were accused of torturing their enemies by electrocuting them, waterboarding them and feeding them alive to tigers.

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.