Mexico captures son of 'El Chapo' sparking wave of violence
Send a link to a friend
[January 06, 2023]
By Lizbeth Diaz and Dave Graham
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexican security forces captured on Thursday drug
cartel leader Ovidio Guzman, a son of jailed kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo"
Guzman, triggering a wave of violence ahead of a visit by U.S. President
Joe Biden next week.
The violence took place largely in the city of Culiacan in the northern
Sinaloa state, home to the powerful drug cartel of the same name that El
Chapo headed before his extradition to the United States in 2017.
State governor Ruben Rocha said seven members of the security forces had
been killed, including a colonel, and 21 had been injured as well as
eight civilians.
Rocha said there had been 12 clashes with the security forces, 25 acts
of looting, and 250 vehicles had been set on fire and used to block
roads.
"Tomorrow we think we will be able to work normally," he said, adding
that he had not discussed calling more reinforcements from the army or
the National Guard.
A failed operation to detain Ovidio in 2019 ended in humiliation for the
government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, after the arrest
triggered a wave of violence that forced authorities to shutter
Culiacan's schools and airports.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jan/06/images/ads/current/LPL_small%201.gif)
At that time, Ovidio, who has become a key figure in the cartel since
the arrest of his father, was quickly released to end violent
retribution from his cartel.
Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval confirmed the capture of the
32-year-old on Thursday, saying Ovidio was being held in the capital,
Mexico City.
Videos shared on social media, which Reuters was unable to immediately
verify, appeared to show heavy fighting overnight in Culiacan, with the
sky lit up by helicopter gunfire.
The city's airport was caught up in the violence, with Mexican airline
Aeromexico saying one of its planes had been hit by gunfire ahead of a
scheduled flight to Mexico City. No one was hurt, it said.
David Tellez, a passenger who boarded the plane with his wife and three
children, said they had decided to stay in the airport until it is safe
to leave.
"The city is worse," he said. "There is a lot of shooting and
confusion."
A Mexican air force plane was also shot at, the federal aviation agency
said, adding that the airport in Culiacan, as well as in the Sinaloa
cities of Mazatlan and Los Mochis, would remain closed until security
could be ensured.
U.S. REWARD
Ovidio's latest capture comes before a North American leaders' summit in
Mexico City next week, which U.S. President Joe Biden will attend and is
expected to discuss security.
The United States had offered a $5 million reward for information
leading to Ovidio's arrest or conviction.
It is not clear whether Ovidio will be extradited to the United States
like his father, who is serving a life sentence at Colorado's Supermax,
the most secure U.S. federal prison.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/010623PIX/news_t55.jpg)
An armored vehicle leaves the Attorney
General's Office for Special Investigations on Organized Crime (FEMDO),
following the detention of Mexican drug gang leader Ovidio Guzman, a
son of incarcerated kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who has been
arrested by Mexican authorities, in Mexico City, Mexico January 5,
2023. REUTERS/Raquel Cunha
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jan/06/images/ads/current/graue_lda_REDSILVERADO_122022.png)
A surge in overdose deaths in the United States, fueled by the
synthetic opioid fentanyl, has led to increased pressure on Mexico
to combat organizations, such as the Sinaloa Cartel, responsible for
producing and shipping the drug.
The cartel is one of the world's most powerful narcotics trafficking
organizations.
The arrest helps Mexican law enforcement save face following
Ovidio's 2019 release from custody, said Tomas Guevara, a security
expert at the Autonomous University of Sinaloa.
It might also herald a change in approach by the government, Guevara
said, after criticism from many security experts that Lopez Obrador
was soft on the cartels, an accusation he denies.
The president argues the confrontational tactics of his predecessors
were unsuccessful and only caused more bloodshed, saying he would
instead pursue a strategy of "hugs not bullets."
RESIDENTS URGED TO STAY INDOORS
The security forces attempted to control the violent response to the
arrest in Culiacan with heavily armed teams patrolling in pickup
trucks.
"We continue to work on controlling the situation," said Cristobal
Castaneda, Sinaloa's public security chief.
Authorities urged people to stay indoors and said schools and
administrative offices were closed due to the violence. Street
blockades had also been erected.
Joaquin Guzman, 65, was convicted in New York in 2019 of trafficking
billions of dollars of drugs to the United States and conspiring to
murder enemies.
Eduardo Guerrero, director of Lantia Consulting which analyzes
Mexican organized crime, said pressure from the Biden administration
to target the Sinaloa Cartel had likely motivated Mexico to go after
Guzman.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Aug/26/images/ads/current/ldn_sda_062409.png)
But he warned that while Ovidio's capture was likely to weaken that
cartel, it could help its main rival, the notoriously violent
Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
"It's very important the government bear in mind that the weakening
of the Sinaloa Cartel may also bring about an even greater
expansion, a greater presence of the Jalisco Cartel."
(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz, Dave Graham and Diego Ore, additional
reporting by Tomas Bravo, Kylie Madry, Jackie Botts and Sarah
Morland, Writing by Stephen Eisenhammer; Editing by Alistair Bell,
Robert Birsel)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |