Godson of ‘El Chapo’ turns himself in to DEA at Calexico border

A young man said to be the godson of Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, under pressure amid a bloody power struggle over the powerful Sinaloa cartel, has turned himself in to U.S. authorities at the border in Calexico, Mexican news outlets reported Friday.

Damaso Lopez Serrano, known as “Mini Lic,” presented himself to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the U.S.-Mexico crossing on Wednesday and was then handed over to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents, an unnamed Mexican government official told the Mexican news wire service EFE.

Mexican authorities had been hunting for Lopez Serrano in neighboring Mexicali, EFE reported.

U.S. authorities did not release any information Friday. There did not appear to be any federal charges filed against him in San Diego, at least any that were publicly available.

Lopez Serrano got his nickname from his father, Damaso Lopez Nuñez, known as “El Licenciado.” The father was reputed to be part of Guzmán’s top tier in the Sinaloa cartel. He was arrested by Mexican authorities in May at a high-rise tower in Mexico City.

Lopez Serrano, previously known for his playboy image on social media, used to share a friendly relationship with Guzmán’s sons, but that has apparently changed as his father has led an effort to wrest control of the cartel from them, according to news reports. The Sinaloa group has also come under fire from the competing Jalisco New Generation cartel.

Guzmán, on the run after a gutsy prison escape, was arrested in Sinaloa in January 2016 and extradited to the U.S. to face drug trafficking charges in New York federal court in Brooklyn a year later.

High-level targets close to Guzmán’s empire have often been nabbed along this stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Last month, Guzmán’s alleged mistress and a former Mexican legislator, Lucero Guadalupe Sánchez López, was caught as she tried to enter San Diego at the Cross Border Xpress airport terminal. She has been indicted on a conspiracy charge of helping the cartel launder money and will be tried in Washington, D.C.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavis