Mexican security forces on Thursday captured drug cartel leader Ovidio Guzman, a son of imprisoned kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, sparking a wave of violence in the town of Culiacan, Sinaloa state, which has gave his name to the cartel.
There were twelve clashes with the security forces, 25 acts of looting. “Ten soldiers (…) unfortunately lost their lives in the line of duty,” Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval told reporters, adding that there were also “19 dead” among the criminals. presumed.
Thirty-five other soldiers were wounded by bullets, while 21 people were arrested during this operation carried out in Culiacan, in the capital of the state of Sinaloa, during which intense fire exchanges occurred. The previous assessment reported one dead and 28 injured.
A senior army officer was among the victims, said Luis Cresencio Sandoval, adding that his patrol had been attacked following the arrest of Ovidio Guzman, alias “El Raton” (“the Mouse”). “We have no information about civilians who may have lost their lives,” added Luis Cresencio Sandoval.
250 vehicles were set on fire and used to block roads. Schools were closed for security and the airport was brought to a halt after an Aeromexico plane was hit by gunfire.
“El Raton” transferred to El Altiplano prison
Flight AM165 was about to take off for Mexico City when a succession of military planes landed on the airstrip. Shots were fired very close to the plane, damaging an engine, and passengers were disembarked, with fears the clashes taking place in the street would move into the terminal building. Mazatlan and LosMochis airports were also closed.
In 2019, Ovidio’s arrest ended in the humiliation of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. It had triggered a wave of violence which had forced the executive to release the trafficker to put an end to the reprisals.
Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval confirmed the 32-year-old’s capture on Thursday, saying Ovidio was being held in the capital, Mexico City. “El Raton” (“the Mouse”), who took over from his father El Chapo, detained for life in the United States, was transferred on board an Air Force plane until the capital, where he was heard by the prosecution. Around 7 p.m. local time (2 a.m. French time), images broadcast by local media showed him, bearded and wearing an orange vest, boarding a helicopter in the direction of the prison of ‘El Altiplano, 90 km from Mexico City.
It was from this same prison that his father escaped in 2015 by taking a 1.5 km long tunnel on a motorbike dug under the shower of his cell, ventilated and lit and leading into a building under construction.
Ovidio Guzman was one of Mexico’s most wanted men. He is accused of leading the “Los Menores” faction, linked to the Pacific Cartel, another name for the Sinaloa Cartel, since his father’s arrest. The United States offered five million dollars for his capture. Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard denied that the arrest was a gesture by his government to Washington, three days before President Joe Biden arrived for an official visit.
Believed to be the main trafficker of Fentanyl
Ovidio Guzman is wanted by US authorities for trafficking cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine. According to the American authorities, “El Raton” has control of several clandestine laboratories which produce between 1,360 and 2,200 kilograms of this drug which is wreaking havoc.
The Sinaloa cartel is considered by the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to be the main perpetrator of the trafficking of fentanyl, a drug 50 times more powerful than heroin, 100 times more powerful than morphine, which has caused numerous deaths by overdose in the USA. Other information indicates that Ovidio ordered the assassination of informants, a drug dealer and a famous singer who refused to sing at his wedding.
The situation calmed down on Friday. Thousands of soldiers retook control of Culiacan on Friday. Nearly 4,500 soldiers patrol the streets of the city of 800,000 inhabitants and its surroundings after the offensive launched by the Sinaloa cartel. “The situation has been calm for the past few hours,” Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador said during his daily press conference.