Dámaso López Serrano, alias “Mini Lec”, was a key operator of the Sinaloa cartel and is the son of Dámaso López Núñez, alias “Licineciado”.
Before going to the American authorities in 2017, Mini LIC led a faction for young people from the Sinaloa cartel known as “Ántrax“, Which opened mainly in Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa. After receiving a reduced conviction for having cooperated with the authorities, he was released in 2022, to be arrested again in 2024 for fentanyl traffic.
History
Born in Culiacán, Sinaloa, in 1987, the mini -lic was exposed to drug trade from an early age. His father, Dámaso López Núñez, alias “Licensee“, Worked in the penitentiary system of Puente Grande, Jalisco, and helped Joaquín Guzmán Loera, alias”El Chapo», Escape for the first time in 2001. He joined the Sinaloa cartel After that, becoming one of the closest allies of El Chapo. In more than a decade, he built his own drug trafficking network in Mexico, the United States, Central America and South America. This close relationship helped Mini LIC to integrate at the start of the organization and to take command of its own cell, known as Ántrax.
After El Chapo’s reuptake in February 2014, the group’s management was temporarily delegated to Licencuado, although Guzmán escaped in July 2015. His final capture and his extradition to the United States in 2017 triggered an intense internal power struggle. Between 2017 and 2021, Mini Lic and his father clashed with factions led by Ismael Zambada García, alias “El MayoAnd the sons of El Chapo, known collectively as the Chapitos. The intestine struggles led to a wave of violence in Sinaloa and have more fractured the organization.
After licenseao Stop and extradition in May 2017, mini abandoned To the American authorities a few months later at the Calexico border post in California. He then pleaded guilty of drug trafficking and money laundering.
Although he was incarcerated, he cooperated with American prosecutors, which helped him obtain a reduced sentence and early release in 2022. But his freedom was short -lived. In December 2024, he was again arrested in Virginia for fentanyl traffic. In May 2025, he pleaded guilty before a federal court. He and his father stay in police custody.
Criminal activities
In August 2016, American authorities in California charge Mini LIC with drug trafficking and money laundering. In the indictment, prosecutors accused him of having to import and distribute methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin in the United States, as well as conspire to whiten money. He pleaded guilty to the accusations in 2018.
Mexican authorities appointed him alleged mastermind behind the journalist’s murder Javier Valdez CárdenasKnown for its impactful reports on organized crime. Valdez was shot in broad daylight in Culiacán, Sinaloa in May 2017. The murder triggered international indignation On violence against journalists in Mexico. Mini LIC has never been prosecuted for murder.
Mini LIC was released from American prison in 2022, but was again arrested in the United States on December 12, 2024, for new fetanyl traffic accusations. According to the authorities, crimes took place after his release and were not linked to any previous mandate.
Geography
Before its arrest in 2017, Mini LIC worked not only in its original state, Sinaloa, in particular in Culiacán, but also in Baja California on. In 2015, a cell known as “Dámaso“, Directed by Guadalupe Acosta López, alias” El Javier “, would have been expelled from the capital of the state of Baja California La Paz by members of the Mayitos faction. The reports suggest that the cell operated under the command of the mini -lic.
Allies and enemies
Mini LIC was part of his father’s inner circle and shared many of the same allies and enemies within the Sinaloa cartel.
After the capture of El Chapo, Licaleseao tried to position himself as his successor, which increased tensions with other factions. In February 2017, the authorities accused the mini-chick and his father of orchestrating an assassination attempt against El Mayo and two of El Chapo’s sons. The authorities have seen the attack as part of a broader struggle, marking a final break between rival factions. Later that year, the two were linked to a assault on the house of El Chapo’s mother in June and kidnapping of his sons in August.
After his arrest, the cooperation of Mini Lec with the American authorities would have been the key to several prosecution of crime personalities, including the arrests of the sons of El Chapo Ovidio And Joaquín Guzmánwho are now in police custody.
Among the allies closest to Mini LIC appeared its alleged financial operator Nahúm Abraham Sicairos Montalvo, alias “El Quinceañero”; The mini uncle, Álvaro López Núñez; And the group’s security manager, Esteban Espinoza, alias “El Pantera”. Pantera was killed in 2014 during a shooting, allegedly by members of the Chapitos faction.
Prospects
As a godson of El Chapo and former member of the interior circle of the Sinaloa cartel, the mini -lic has an intimate knowledge of the group’s infrastructure, traffic paths, financial flows and internal operations. Although the details of its 2017 cooperation agreement were not made public, its testimony probably contributed to several major cases against group leaders, including two of El Chapo’s sons now imprisoned in the United States.
After his second arrest, Mini LIC pleaded guilty in May 2025, apparently requesting another advocacy agreement. Although it can still be a precious source of intelligence, its role within the organization seems to be finished. His imprisonment and his father weakened their faction and stripped them of the ability to question the remaining leadership of the organization.
