Dámaso López Serrano, also known as "El Mini Lic."
Image via El Pais
Dámaso López Serrano, also known as "El Mini Lic," was sentenced on Thursday to five years in prison for his role in an attempted fentanyl trafficking operation on U.S. soil.
López Serrano was once an influential figure within the Sinaloa cartel due to his father, Dámaso López Núñez, who for years served as the right-hand man of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. El Mini Lic earned a place within the cartel's ranks through his close relationship with Guzmán's sons, but since his first arrest in the United States in 2017, his role in the organization's criminal activities diminished.
After spending five years in prison, El Mini Lic was released from U.S. custody in 2022. As part of his release, López Serrano agreed to cooperate with law enforcement, providing key information about El Chapo's sons and the Sinaloa cartel.
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His second arrest took place in December 2024 in Virginia for allegedly trafficking fentanyl following an FBI undercover operation in which agents posed as buyers. He pleaded guilty in May to attempted possession with intent to distribute the synthetic drug.
In imposing the sentence, U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga declined to depart from a joint recommendation under a plea agreement between Justice Department prosecutors and defense attorneys, The Washington Post reported. The new five-year sentence will run concurrently with a separate five-year sentence for violating his previous supervised release and will be followed by another five years of supervised release.
For more than five years, the Mexican government has sought López Serrano's extradition, as he is wanted for allegedly ordering the killing of Javier Valdez, a Sinaloa-based journalist who specialized in reporting on the drug trade. U.S. authorities repeatedly rejected those requests, according to Mexican officials, arguing that López Serrano was a protected witness providing information to U.S. law enforcement, a position that has drawn criticism from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
Last year, Sheinbaum said agreements between the U.S. government and high-profile cartel figures such as El Mini Lic were "contradictory."
"They label organized crime as terrorists in the United States. They have a policy of not negotiating with terrorists and then they negotiate, so that has to be explained by the U.S. government or the institutions within the Justice Department or whoever makes these decisions," she said.
Because of his close ties to the Guzmán family, U.S. prosecutors have treated López Serrano as a key protected witness and have rejected Mexico's attempts to bring him back to face charges.
According to reports, El Mini Lic's cooperation led to the arrests of Ovidio Guzmán López, one of the leaders of Los Chapitos, and other cartel members in recent months. Despite previous failed efforts by Mexico, Sheinbaum's administration is expected to renew its push to have López Serrano returned to Mexican soil.
As reported by The Washington Post, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of Virginia, where López Serrano was sentenced, declined to comment on whether the government would support Mexico's extradition request.
El Mini Lic as a whistleblower
During the two years he spent out of prison before his second arrest, López Serrano gave multiple interviews to Mexican journalists in which he disclosed sensitive information about the Sinaloa cartel.
In one interview, El Mini Lic described an alleged letter from El Chapo Guzmán ordering the cartel to split into two factions: one led by Guzmán's sons and the other by the Dámaso family.
"He wanted my dad to be the leader. And I remember that in the letter he asked my dad to take care of his sons," López Serrano told Vice in 2023.
Despite Guzmán's wishes, his sons reportedly rejected protection from the Dámaso family, triggering an internal dispute between the two groups.
In another interview with investigative journalist Anabel Hernández, López Serrano said the Sinaloa cartel and its factions have been involved in fentanyl trafficking since at least 2014, after learning that criminal groups in Jalisco and Michoacán were moving a drug known as "synthetic heroin" that generated higher profits.
"They sent someone to China to see what was going on," López Serrano said. "They made contact and explained the process and the costs. El Chapo was the first to produce fentanyl."
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Tags: Sinaloa, Sinaloa Cartel, Mexico, Drug cartels, Los Chapitos
