A son of “El Chapo” Guzmán was arrested in Mexico
VER VIDEO
The Mexican authorities announced the capture of Ovidio Guzmán, son of the imprisoned drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, in an operation that caused fires, road blockades and attacks in the town of Culiacánin northwestern Mexico.
Guzmán was detained by the Army and the National Guard on charges of lead the Los Menores faction, related to the Pacific Cartel (or Sinaloa Cartel) and is “son of Joaquín Guzmán Loera”sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States, explained the Secretary of Defense, Luis Cresencio Sandoval.
Guzmán was taken on an Air Force plane to Mexico City.
The shootings between criminals and security forces occurred in various points of Culiacán -capital of the state of Sinaloa- and spread to the city’s airportreported the AFP news agency.
Operations at the air terminal were suspended until 10:00 p.m. (2:00 a.m. in Argentina)after a passenger plane received a bullet impact moments before taking off, with no injuries reported, the company Aeroméxico reported.
In addition, school classes and a professional soccer league match were suspended, and the AFP agency reported incidents in a prison where several drug traffickers are being held.
After registering blockades and shootings in Culiacán and the nearby city of Los Mochis, sources consulted stated that priority targets of the Federal Government were surrounded, including Ovidio Guzmán.
Several cargo vehicles and cars burned in the streets of the city, where scenes of panic were recorded among people who were looking for a place to protect themselves.
The governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha, said earlier that the operation of the armed forces was concentrated in the area of Jesús María, Municipality of Culiacán.
Ovidio Guzmás would be “the heir” of his father. Photo: AFP.
“This has given rise to some violent events in the capital and other places in the state,” he said on his Twitter account.
After the operation, the Secretary of Public Security of Sinaloa, Cristóbal Castañeda Camarillo, asked the population to remain in their homes to safeguard their integrity.
Meanwhile, the United States embassy in Mexico alerted US citizens to the events and recommended avoiding travel to the area.
Ovidio Guzmán is one of the heirs of “Chapo” Guzmán, former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.
His capture occurs days before the arrival of US President Joe Biden, who will visit Mexico on Monday for the North American Leaders Summit.
The United States requested the extradition of Ovidio Guzmán considering him one of the leaders of its own criminal cellunder the protection of the Sinaloa cartel
Washington assures that Ovidio Guzmán, alias “El Ratón”, and his brother Joaquín “El Güero” lead and control the drug trafficking operations of a criminal cell protected by the cartel.
For this reason, both are formally accused of conspiracy to traffic cocaine to the United States, in a court in the District of Columbia, which also maintains an extradition request in force.
The Sinaloa cartel is considered by the US anti-drug agency DEA as the main person responsible for trafficking fentanyl, a drug 50 times more powerful than heroin and which caused numerous overdose deaths in that country.
Guzmán had already been arrested on October 17, 2019 in Culiacán, but was released by order of the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in the midst of a riot by the criminal organization.
The leftist president then defended his decision arguing that a bloodbath was avoided, when military contingents were surrounded by civilians with long weapons.
The violence in Culiacán occurred in parallel to operations in Ciudad Juárez (on the border with the United States), in which Ernesto Piñón, alias “El Neto”, was killed, who escaped along with 24 other prisoners from a prison in that city last Sunday.
