All had been adapted to be able to maneuver machine guns and offer greater security to drug traffickers. Shields, reinforced glass, steel structures, drawings and more.
After the wave of violence in Sinaloa after the capture of the drug lord Ovid Guzman (32) Details of the imposing command of special forces with which the famous son of “El Chapo” moved through the streets of Mexico began to be known.
Nothing less than 26 armored trucks They were the ones that protected one of the heirs of the Sinaloa Cartel and for whom the United States offered up to 5 million dollars for his capture.
These vans, of different models such as Chevrolet Suburban and Ford Lobo, had particularities. Some were adapted to be able to maneuver machine guns out of the cockpit. Others had a kind of shield on the sliding windows located on the roof to give more protection when shooting.
The impressive range of defense could be seen in the area of the clashes between the security forces and criminal groups on the streets of Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa, which left at least 29 dead.
The Secretary of National Defense of Mexico, Luis Cresencio Sandoval, spoke of several trucks “with handmade shielding”. According to the newspaper The Milleniummost of the windows of the trucks that were stuck on the streets had high-caliber shots that were contained by the thickness of the armored glass.
At least three of these vehicles also had the windows of the four doors with a design similar to that used in war tanks, where visibility can only be achieved through a slight area with reinforced glass.
The most striking data was seen in a Chevrolet Cheyenne truck. The drawing of a mouse and the logo of the antihero The Punisher they were drawn on a steel structure placed in the open cabin. That frame was tall enough to give protection to a standing person.
This Friday, during a press conference at the place where Ovidio Guzmán was arrested, the head of the National Defense Secretariat (Sedena) Luis Cresencio Sandoval González pointed out that the strategy and force used by the Army agents managed to break through the powerful armor.
Tanks, also armored vehicles and aircraft were part of the operation with which the agents repelled the attack by Guzmán’s hit men who were aboard the trucks. But without a doubt, the most powerful weapon that the military forces allegedly had in their possession was an articulated six-barrel rotary machine gun mounted on a Black Hawk military helicopter.
The artifact they would have had at their disposal is a M134 Minigun, from the United States, said local journalist José Luis Montenegro. It is a high-velocity weapon with the capacity to execute between 2,000 and 3,000 detonations per minute.
Ovidio Guzmán was also heavily armed. At the time he was located among the attackers, he had in his possession weapons exclusive to the Mexican Armed Forces.
Two months of pretrial detention
After his capture, Ovidio Guzmán was transferred to the Federal Center for Social Readaptation (Cefereso) number 1 of the Altiplano -also known as Almoloya prison-, located in the State of Mexico, where his father was also held, who escaped from there in 2015.
After the hearing this Friday, federal judge Gregorio Salazar ordered pretrial detention for the alleged drug trafficker and set within 60 days for the United States to present the necessary documents for his extradition.
However, hours before, a Mexico City judge granted an injunction to stop his immediate extradition, in addition to granting him another injunction to avoid the drug trafficker’s solitary confinement, which allows him to contact his family and defense attorneys.
The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and the foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, confirmed that the US has requested the extradition of El Chapo’s son since 2019, but they estimated that it would take between 4 and 6 weeks to present the evidence to make this request effective.
In local media it also transpired that the defense of Ovidio Guzmán alleged that the capo suffers depression and anxietyin addition to recovering from surgery, although the reason for the intervention was not specified.
Faced with this situation, the drug lord’s lawyers requested that he be supplied with his medications to treat his various illnesses. However, the judge affirmed that the necessary studies will be carried out to determine if the drugs requested by the defense will be granted.
Sinaloa seeks calm
The arrest of Guzmán early Thursday led to a day of violence in Sinaloa, especially in Culiacán -state capital-, Los Mochis and Mazatlán, which resulted in at least 29 deaths, a dozen soldiers and 19 members of organized crime. reported the Mexican government.
The blockades of streets with vehicles set on fire, the armed attacks, the closure of airports and the suspension of business and school activities recalled the “culiacanazo”, the violent events that occurred in Sinaloa in 2019 after the first arrest of the drug trafficker, who was released by order of President López Obrador to avoid civilian deaths.
However, this Friday, the governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha, emphasized in a press conference that the conditions already existed to return to normality in Sinaloa.
He affirmed that López Obrador endorsed his support and that 3,500 soldiers would be deployed, who would remain in the state until security conditions improve.
“We are going to have that presence here, we do not want to install a state of siege either. We simply want to be sure to return to normal conditions,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the airports of Culiacán, Mazatlán, Ciudad Obregón and Los Mochis resumed their operations after suspending them on Thursday morning due to the violence that broke out.