'El Chavo Félix,' son-in-law of 'El Mayo,' pleads guilty to drug trafficking in San Diego; sentencing set for 2027

Juan Carlos Félix Gastelum, the son-in-law of notorious Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, has pleaded guilty to multiple charges related to drug trafficking and money laundering. The plea occurred Friday in a federal court in San Diego, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Known as "El Chavo Félix," the 43-year-old admitted in his plea agreement that he managed a drug trafficking operation connected to the Sinaloa Cartel. He further confessed to being a primary operator of the cartel's clandestine methamphetamine laboratories located in the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Durango.

Félix Gastelum also acknowledged distributing large quantities of methamphetamine, ranging from hundreds to thousands of pounds, to other cartel leaders. Additionally, he worked with accomplices to import significant amounts of methamphetamine and cocaine into the United States. Mexican authorities apprehended Félix in Culiacán, Sinaloa, in January 2025. He was subsequently extradited to the U.S. in August, along with 25 other alleged high-ranking cartel members. U.S. District Judge Cynthia Bashant accepted the guilty plea and has scheduled his sentencing for March 2027.