Man said to be godson of ‘El Chapo’ is indicted on drug charges in San Diego

Reporting from San Diego —  A man believed to be the godson of Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, who turned himself in to U.S. authorities amid an escalating power struggle over the Sinaloa cartel, was indicted on drug smuggling charges in San Diego federal court Monday.

Damaso Lopez-Serrano, also known as “Mini Lic,” and an associate identified as Nahum Abraham Sicairos-Montalvo, who goes by “Kinceanero,” are accused of doling out pounds of drugs to smugglers and smuggling drugs into the United States themselves from about May 2005 to August 2016.

Court documents don’t specify the exact amount of drugs the two are accused of funneling into the country, but state it was more than a pound of methamphetamine, more than two pounds of heroin and more than 11 pounds of cocaine.

The men are also suspected of laundering money into the United States “with the intent to promote… the distribution of controlled substances,” court records said.

Lopez-Serrano pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin intended for importation, conspiracy to import meth, cocaine and heroin, and conspiracy to launder money. Sicairos-Montalvo faces those same charges.

Lopez-Serrano is the son of — and got his nickname from — Damaso Lopez Nunez, who goes by “El Licenciado” or the Graduate. The father was reportedly one of Guzmán’s top leaders in the Sinaloa Cartel.

Lopez-Serrano surrendered to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers July 27 at the border crossing in Calexico, officials said.

[email protected]

Winkley writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune

ALSO

Court docs reveal man’s graphic text messages about child molestation while on San Jose-bound flight

Northwestern professor charged with murder

Deputies fatally shoot man they were trying to evict from apartment in San Diego