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Mexico arrests Ovidio Guzman, son of ‘El Chapo’, city engulfed in violence

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© Reuters. A car drives past a burning trailer set alight by members of a drug cartel, after the arrest of Mexican drug cartel leader Ovidio Guzman, the son of the drug lord is in custody. Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who was arrested by Mexican authorities, in Culiaca

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By Lizbeth Diaz and Dave Graham

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican drug cartel leader Ovidio Guzman, son of jailed drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, was arrested, sparking a backlash by gang gunmen on Wednesday. Thursday closed the airport in the city of Culiacan as authorities told residents to stay indoors.

Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval told a news conference that security forces had arrested the 32-year-old senior member of the Sinaloa Cartel. The arrest comes three years after an attempt to detain him ended in humiliation to the government.

Sandoval said Ovidio is currently being held in Mexico City.

Videos shared on social media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, appear to show fierce fighting overnight in Culiacan, the main city in the northern state of Sinaloa, with the sky lit up by gunfire. Helicopter.

The city’s airport has been the target of violence, with Mexican airline Aeromexico saying one of its planes was hit before a scheduled flight to Mexico City. No one was injured, it said.

Mexico’s federal aviation agency said a plane belonging to the Mexican air force was also shot down and that the airport in Culiacan, as well as in the Sinaloa cities of Mazatlan and Los Mochis, would remain closed until it was safe. security is guaranteed.

Ovidio, who has been a key figure in the gang since his father’s arrest, was briefly detained in 2019 but was quickly released to end the violent punishment in Culiacan from the gang. his. The incident was an embarrassing defeat for the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

His latest arrest comes ahead of next week’s summit of North American leaders in Mexico City, where US President Joe Biden will attend and where security issues are brought up. on the agenda.

One of the Mexican officials said Guzman’s arrest could be a welcome addition to US-Mexico cooperation on security ahead of Biden’s visit.

The United States has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to Ovidio’s arrest or conviction.

It remains unclear whether Ovidio will be extradited to the US like his father, who is serving a life sentence at Supermax in Colorado, America’s most secure federal prison.

The rise in drug overdose deaths in the United States, fueled by the synthetic opioid fentanyl, has led to increased pressure on Mexico to fight organizations – such as the Sinaloa Cartel – that suffer. responsible for the manufacture and transportation of this drug.

The cartel is one of the most powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world.

For Tomas Guevara, a security expert at the Autonomous University of Sinaloa, Guzman’s arrest helped save face for Mexican law enforcement following the humiliation of having to let El Chapo’s son go in 2019.

“Ovidio’s detention is ultimately the culmination of something that was planned three years ago,” he said.

It could also herald a change in the government’s approach, Guevara added, following criticism from many security experts that Lopez Obrador has been soft on gangs, an allegation he denies. cancel.

The president argued that the confrontational tactics of his predecessors had failed and only caused more bloodshed, saying he would instead pursue a “hug not shoot” strategy.

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On Thursday morning, security forces tried to prevent a backlash to the arrest in the Culiacan area by associates of Guzman.

Burnt cars littered the streets and heavily armed law enforcement patrolled the pickup trucks.

“We continue to work to bring the situation under control,” said Cristobal Castaneda, Sinaloa’s director of public safety.

The local government urged people to stay indoors and said schools and administrative offices were closed due to the violence. Roadblocks have also been erected.

Culiacan Mayor Juan de Dios Gamez wrote on Twitter: “We ask the people of Culiacan not to leave their homes due to the lockdown that has occurred in different parts of the city.”

Joaquin Guzman, 65, was convicted in New York in 2019 of smuggling billions of dollars worth of drugs into the United States and conspiracy to kill enemies.

Eduardo Guerrero, director of Lantia Consulting which specializes in analyzing Mexican organized crime, said that recent pressure from the Biden administration against the Sinaloa Cartel may have prompted Mexico to go after Guzman.

But he warns that while Ovidio’s capture has the potential to weaken that gang, it could help their main rival, the notoriously violent Jalisco New Generation Gang.

“It is very important for the government to remember that the weakening of the Sinaloa Cartel can also lead to an even larger expansion, greater presence of the Jalisco Cartel.



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