1Number 2 in my Genealogy of Criminality series. Still working on the title.
Since El Chapo’s descendants are in the news, I figured we’d check on the man’s ancestors. Pretty interesting! but I always say that. His family has been in the crook of Sinaloa, Chihuahua, and Durango states—the “Golden Triangle”—for for at least two hundred years.
They were all farm laborers, going back as far as the records give occupations. There are a few births out-of-wedlock, and sometimes that means the birth father is unknown. But often the father shows up in a marriage or death record, even if not recorded at birth/baptism. In these cases the father is usually of a higher social class than the mother.
One example—and the biggest outlier in El Chapo’s ancestry—is his great-grandfather Gustavo Couret. Couret was a professional of some sort, possibly a mining engineer. He was from relatively distant Los Bronces, in Sonora, and his father was a French immigrant and also a mining engineer. As best I can tell Gustavo only had one child with Margarita Loera, who was probably born out of wedlock herself. That child was El Chapo’s grandfather, making the drug lord 1/16 French.
The French Connection, if you will.
Louret also had a child with Carmen Busboa, and that child, El Chapo’s half-grandaunt, married an American in 1918. El Chapo’s cousin through that line, the ex-government official Marco Octavio Hilton Reyes, has had his own run-ins with the law.
With apologies to the majority law-abiding folk of Sinaloa, it’s fascinating to see many of these surnames are shared with other prominent narco-traffickers. Note, among others, Cesar Gastelum Serrano, Angel Humberto Chavez Gastelum, Alejandro Araujo Uriarte (mother-in-law and money launderer to the druglord known as “El Azul”), El Azul’s son Juan Esparragoza Monzon, and Raydel Lopez Uriarte.
Finally, all of the below comes from the Mexican civil records or Catholic church records unless otherwise indicated.
Joaquín Archivaldo “ El Chapo” Guzmán, * 4 Apr. 1957, La Tuna, Sinaloa, Mexico.
PARENTS
Emilio Guzmán, * 28 May 1922, La Tuna.
María Consuelo Loera, * c. 1928, La Tuna.
GRANDPARENTS
Juan Guzmán, * c. 1895, Guadalupe y Calvo, Chihuahua. Farm laborer. Common law marriage with:
Maria Otilia Bustillos, * 29 Aug. 1903, San Francisco, Guadalupe y Calvo, Chi.
Ovidio Loera, * c. 1900, La Tuna, Sinaloa.
Maria Pomposa Pérez, * 4 Feb. 1898, La Tuna; bp. 9 Aug. 1899, Badiraguato, Sinaloa.
GREAT-GRANDPARENTS
Guzman
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Unknown, non-marital liaison with:
Victoriana Bustillos, * c. 1880 (possibly the Maria Victoria Bustillos born at San Francisco, Chi. 23 Dec. 1883 to the same parents).
Gustavo Couret, * c. 1862, Los Bronces, La Barranca, Sonora; + aft. May 1922, when he married Rosario Cardenas in Pima, Arizona. Spent roughly eleven years in San Francisco, California. Non-marital liaison with:
Margarita Loera, * c. 1876, Dolores, Chihuahua. Had been in Sinaloa for four years at birth of natural daughter Faustina in 1892. Likely an out-of-wedlock daughter of #26 or one of his children, as she was closely associated with his son Ladislao Loera.
José Nemesio Uriarte, bp. 13 Nov. 1864, San Juan Bautista, Badiraguato; dead by 1929. Non-marital liaison with:
Francisca Pérez, bp. 4 Nov. 1860, San Juan Bautista, Badiraguato.
GREAT-GREAT GRANDPARENTS
Guzman
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José de Jesus Rosario Antonio Bustillos, bp. 7 Oct. 1831, Balleza, Chihuahua; married 28 Dec. 1875, in Dolores, Guadalupe y Calvo to:
Anastacia Acosta, bp. 22 Apr. 1860, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, Guadalupe y Calvo, Chi.
Maximiliano Couret, * c. 1823, Beaucaire, Marseille, Frances; + 22 Apr. 1891, El Quiriego, Sonora. Mining engineer.
Concepcion Carillo, * c. 1837, Arizpe, Sonora; + 11 Apr. 1891, Quiriega, Sonora.
José Ygnacio Loera, * c. 1810, Refugio, Chi; bp. 3 Feb. 1810, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, Guadalupe y Calvo; + 20 Jan. 1897, Rancho del Cordon, Chi. Married 17 Dec. 1832, Guadalupe y Calvo:
Maria Tomasa Ramona Valdéz, * bp. 19 Mar. 1813, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, Guadalupe y Calvo; + bef. 1892.
Jesús Uriarte, * c. 1826, Las Paredes, Badiraguato; + 10 May 1900. Married c. 1850:
Maria Pomposa Chavez
Pablo Peréz, * c. 1825; + 28 Aug. 1887, Badiraguato; married 19 Jun. 1852, Badiraguato:
Maria Altagracia Araujo
GREAT-GREAT-GREAT GRANDPARENTS
Guzman
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José Miguel Bustillos, * c. 1816; + 14 Apr. 1876, Dolores, Chi. Farm laborer. Married, 9 March 1829, Balleza, Chihuahua:
Maria Angela Portillo
Juan Jesús Acosta, + bef. 1906
Maria Luz Garcia, + bef. 1906
Fermin Couret, of France.
Gerarde Featre
Mauricio Carillo, possibly Alcalde of Arizpe in the 1820s. Maybe a grandchild of Jose Carillo, a peninsulare from Castilla.
Margarita Mendoza, * c. 1793, Hermosillo, Sonora; + 13 Oct. 1844, La Asunción, Sonora.
Hyginio Loera
Manuela Cuevas
Juan Antonio Valdéz
Salome Garcia
José Antonio Uriarte; * 1798; married 17 Jan. 1822, San Juan Bautista, Badiraguato to:
Maria Serafina Rivera; * 1808, Badiraguato.
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José Ignacio Perez; married 13 Dec. 1826, San Juan Bautista, Badiraguato to:
Maria Nicolasa Monzón, bp. 20 Feb. 1811, San Juan Bautista, Badiraguato;
José Araujo, * c. 1789; married 11 May 1816, San Juan Bautista, Badiraguato to:
Maria Rivera
GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT GRANDPARENTS
Guzman
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José Albino Bustillos
Catarina Gregoria Quiñones
José Alt? Portillo
Maria Donancia Grajeda
Agustín Acosta
Maria Magdalena Loera
Mariano García
Maria Trista Cardena
Couret
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Featre
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Francisco Xavier Uriarte;2 married 10 Feb. 1797, San Juan Bautista, Badiraguato to:
Anna Maria Monzón3
José Luis Rivera,4 * c. 1770; married 24 Feb. 1794, San Juan Bautista, Badiraguato, to:
Maria Inéz Martinez,5 * c. 1776.
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Antonio Pérez; * c. 1766; married 23 Dec. 1804, San Juan Bautista, Badiraguato, to:
Gertrudis Serrano
Jose Tomas Monzón,6 married 9 Feb. 1802, San Juan Bautistia, Badiraguato, to:
Dolores Chávez7
Antonio Araujo8
Antonia Chávez9
Luis Rivera (identical to #114 and 115, above).
Inéz Martínez
Yes, it’s still an ahentafel. Consider this a gift to the non-nerds. They’ve had a rough fifteen years.
son of Francisco Xavier Uriarte and Maria Nicolasa Coronado. F.X. Uriarte was in turn a son of Bernado de Uriarte of Mocorito, Sinaloa, perhaps the earliest Uriarte traceable.
dau of Roberto Ignacio Monzón and Francisca Gertrudis Cordero. R.I. Monzón was in turn a son of Juan Monzón and Beatríz Lopez de Ayala.
son of Joaquin Rivera and Francisca Xaviera de Castro.
dau of Maximiano Martínez and Maria Rosa Alvarado.
son of Roberto Ignacio Monzón and Francisca Gertrudis Cordero, brother of #113.
son of Alberto Chávez and Serrafina Serrano. Likely first cousin of #121.
son of Antonio Araujo and Maria Francisca Gastélum.
sister of #125.