ICE is now offering $10 million for the capture of Aureliano Guzman, brother of drug lord "El Chapo" and also known as "El Guano." However, the description appears to mix him up with one of his sons, rather than describing him as his brother.
Infobae noted that the ICE statement explicitly describes Aureliano Guzman as a son of "El Chapo," claiming he is a sibling of the "Chapitos," who lead a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel following the imprisonment of their father and the splintering of the criminal organization.
The Department of State already offered $5 million for information leading to the capture of "El Guano." The bounty has been in place for years, with him being on the run since 2022 after the Mexican Army arrested five of his bodyguards who posed as marines.
According to reports from Mexican and U.S. authorities, El Guano has been responsible for overseeing drug production and trafficking in remote areas of the Sinaloa mountains, particularly in the regions of Badiraguato, where the cartel's roots are deeply entrenched.
While El Chapo became the public face of the cartel's rise, El Guano was an essential part of the family's drug empire in the background. He is also the leader of his faction within the Sinaloa Cartel called "Gente del Guano" (GDG), whose security chief, given the alias Luis "N." or "R8," was taken into custody in July of last year.
"El Guano" plays a key role in the region, especially following the internal war within the Sinaloa Cartel, which erupted following the arrest of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada last year.
It was initially reported that despite their differences, El Guano had changed his loyalty from El Mayo to Los Chapitos, in the power struggle within the Sinaloa Cartel. In fact, despite reports of hostility between El Guano and his nephews, it seems that they had arrived at a truce after the death of El Guano and El Chapo's mother, María Consuelo Loera Pérez, in December of last year.
El Mayo's capture (allegedly orchestrated by Los Chapitos) ended that truce, and the fighting started again. According to a list of El Mayo's allies compiled by the Mexican Ministry of National Defense and published by Mexican newspaper Milenio, El Guano has sided with La Mayiza, reportedly assembling a group of sicarios he named "El Cartel del Guano" to help fight his nephews.
El Guano's support is considered crucial by experts, as he controls significant drug production zones in the mountainous regions of Sinaloa, which are vital for the cartel's cocaine and heroin trafficking routes, as well as being considered an essential member of the cartel by the U.S. State Department.
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