Mexico City - The key pillars of the Trump administration’s policy toward Mexico involve mass deportations and the crackdown on cartels.

But reports in Mexican media suggest that U.S. authorities have recently planned secrets of at least 17 relatives of Mexico's most notorious drug king (Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán) cross-border moves.

Various social media sites are circulating images to show El Chapo waiting to enter the United States as they crossed the San Ysidro border connecting Tijuana and San Diego last week.

In a radio interview Tuesday, Mexico's head of security Omar García Harfuch confirmed the move.

He transferred El Chapo's relatives as part of the U.S. Department of Justice "negotiations" and representatives of Ovidio Guzmán López, one of El Chapo's sons, who faces drug smuggling and other charges in federal court in Chicago.

Guzmán López was initially arrested in a 2019 operation that inspired the paralysis of guns with Culiacán, prompting then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to order him to release him to end the violence. He was reoccupied in his second bloody operation in 2023, with at least 29 deaths, including 10 Mexican soldiers. Mexico extraditioned him to the United States in September 2023 and faces drug trafficking charges.

He plans to change his guilty plea to guilty, according to court documents, but the terms of his potential plea agreement remain publicly unknown. A court hearing is scheduled to be held in the federal court in Chicago on July 9.

“As we saw in the news, Ovidio started negotiating with the U.S. Department of Justice, it was obvious that (going to the U.S. with his family), and that’s because of the negotiation,” García Harfuch told Mexico’s radio formula.

The whereabouts of El Chapo's relatives cannot be determined at this time. It is not clear whether they are under some form of protective custody.

There is speculation in Mexico that in exchange for lower prison term and other offers, Guzmán López could agree to testify for the government in drug cases. Experts say such “cooperation” agreements often include protection for relatives of potential witnesses.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday that the reports turned a blind eye – she learned of the transfer from news reports – and her administration is seeking clarification from Washington.

Justice Department spokesman Nicole Navas declined to comment. Jeffrey Lichtman, Guzmán Lopez's New York lawyer, did not return the message.

El Chapo was convicted in 2019 and sentenced to life imprisonment in Colorado’s “Supermax” prison.

The account about El Chapo's relatives entering San Diego originated from Mexican journalist Luis Chaparro, who specializes in stories about convicted drug traffickers.

On Monday, Chaparro reported on his YouTube channel citing "sources" on Monday that 17 El Chapo's relatives (including his ex-wife, various nephews and nieces, grandson, daughter and a son-in-law) entered U.S. territory at San Ysidro around noon on May 9 and were recognized by an FBI agent. Chaparro reported that they were carrying more than $70,000 in cash, and he said at least one sniper was looking at the group when he handed over to U.S. authorities.

The group includes El Chapo's ex-wife, Ovidio's mother Grisel da López and his older brother Joaquín Guzmán López, who is also facing drug charges.

There is widespread speculation in Mexican media that the two brothers may seek a plea agreement and may agree to testify against Ismael Zambada García, co-founder of the infamous Sinaloa Cartel.

Zambada said he was kidnapped by Joaquín Guzmán López in the summer and sent to custody of US agents outside El Paso. Zambada is reportedly in plea negotiations with U.S. authorities to avoid potential death penalty.

His arrest triggered a bloody turf war that split the cartels of Sinaloa. Zambada supporters are fighting supporters of El Chapo's son, known as Los Chapitos, to control the infamous organization. El Chapo's other two sons were fugitives who remained in Mexico and avoided arrest and possible extradition to the United States.

Times writer Keegan Hamilton in Los Angeles and special journalists Cecilia Sánchez Vidal and Liliana Nieto del Río contributed to the report.