A convicted drug trafficker who worked for the son of drug-lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was fatally shot on Thanksgiving, according to authorities.
Eduardo Escobedo, 39 – known as “El Mago” – was killed during the incident on an industrial lot on Thursday morning, official records show.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department launched a homicide investigation after officers attended the scene at around 8.30am in the Willowbrook area of Los Angeles.
Records from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner confirm Escobedo’s death. The other victim was reported to be 47-year-old Guillermo De Los Angeles Jr.
A third man was also taken to hospital with gunshot wounds that are not life-threatening.
“It appears that there was some type of gathering or party at the location from last night to early this morning,” Lieutenant Omar Camacho told KABC-TV Channel 7 at the scene.
Escobedo became the primary distributor of cannabis in LA for El Chapo’s oldest son, Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, according to prosecutors at a 2014 detention hearing. He laundered the proceeds in part by buying exotic cars and shipping them to Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa and the cartel’s stronghold.
He was also alleged to have ordered the death of a rival trafficker, though was never charged in the murder case.
According to The Los Angeles Times, Escobedo served almost five years in federal prison for conspiring to distribute more than 10,000 kilograms of cannabis and laundering drug proceeds. He was released in 2018.
Following his release, Escobedo opened a chain of restaurants and food trucks called Benihibachi, and in recent years flaunted an opulent lifestyle.
Social media posts showed him posing for photographs with Floyd Mayweather and Al Pacino, as well as being pictured with an alleged member of the Italian Mafia.
According to The Los Angeles Times, ahead of his release Escobedo’s attorney, Ezekiel Cortez, told the judge: “As a society, you recognize that they listened. You recognize people who turned their lives around.
“You recognize people who cut their ties, as in this case, with former very bad associations.”
He added: “Mr Escobedo proved to the whole world that he cut his ties completely.”
