Dámaso López “El Licenciado” Pleads Guilty in the US

Translated by Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: Vanguardia

This Friday, Sept 28 in a United States Federal court, Dámaso López Núñez, alias  ''El Licenciado'' and presumed successor of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera  as a head of the Sinaloa Cartel, pleaded guilty to drug crimes in a US court.

After accepting his guilt, the sentence is expected to be handed down at the end of November, with a penalty of between 10 years in prison and life imprisonment.

Known as "El Licenciado", Dámaso López Núñez was chief of security and deputy director at Puente Grande Prison, a high security prison from which he helped escape to ''El Chapo'' Guzmán in January 2001.

López Nuñez and a group of former commanders of the Judicial Police of Sinaloa arrived to take charge of security in the prison and create an environment for ''El Chapo'' to spread a network of corruption that eventually allowed the escape.

The drug lord, Dámaso López pleaded guilty for having trafficked drugs to the United States, being one of the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel and being part of it for 15 years.

The hearing was held in a court of the state of Virigina and the details of his next hearing where he will be sentenced remain unknown, however he could get at least 10 years in prison to life imprisonment, as well as the payment of a fine of $10,000,000, ie ten million US dollars.

López Núñez, a lawyer by profession, was extradited to the United States on July 6 after his capture by Mexican authorities. He was arrested at his lavish apartment building in Mexico City with out a shot being fired.

This capture triggered a wave of armed confrontations and homicides in Sinaloa, as the struggles for the throne of the drug empire raged.

According to the United States Department of the Treasury, Damaso Lopez became a great drug capo and trafficking lieutenant of the Sinaloa cartel after helping "El Chapo" to make his first escape from that maximum security prison.

                                             "El Mini Lic" while still enjoying his freedom

There was a relationship between Dámaso López and "El Chapo'' so close that they even became compadres: Dámaso López Serrano, known as the ''Mini Lic'', is the godson of Guzmán Loera, who turned himself into to US Custom officials and the DEA at the Mexicali / Calexico Border crossing in July 2017 after being in hiding for months , apparently in fear of his life. "El Mini Lic", as he was known, formed an armed wing of the Sinaloa Cartel and was allegedly behind much of the violence in the areas stated below. As a "Narco-junior" he often flaunted his extravagant lifestyle via social media. 

The US authorities accuse him , Damaso Lopez, senior, ie, of conspiring with others to import cocaine, between 2003 to 2016 and the Justice Department reminded him today during the hearing of the sentence the government will seek to impose on him.

"El Licenciado" was the head of one of the four fractions of the Cartel, he is considered responsible for the violence generated in the municipalities of Culiacán, Navolato and Cosalá, as well as in the state of Baja California Sur.