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Heavy street fights in Mexico like here in Culiacán: The Sinaloa cartel shoots at security forces, sets cars on fire and erects roadblocks.
Brute force in Mexico: Members of the Sinaloa drug cartel set vehicles on fire, erected numerous roadblocks and exchanged fierce gunfire with the security forces on Thursday. The fighting extends to the local airport. A passenger plane and a military plane were hit by bullets, according to the airline Aeromexico and the government. Air traffic has been suspended. School classes and sporting events have also been cancelled.
It is the reaction to the arrest of Ovidio Guzmán (32), just days before the planned visit of US President Joe Biden (80). Guzmán is said to have helped his father, the notorious drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán (65), continue his drug business after the arrest of his father.
Also caught an assassin
According to the government, 29 people were killed when the 32-year-old was arrested. The fatalities are ten military personnel and 19 “lawbreakers,” said Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval (62) on Friday. Ovidio Guzmán was arrested in northern Mexico on Thursday, after which suspected members of Guzmán’s drug cartel fought fierce gun battles with security forces.
After his arrest, Ovidio Guzmán was taken to Mexico City in an Air Force plane, where the public prosecutor’s office questioned him. He was then put in the Altiplano prison. According to media reports, a head of contract killers from the Sinaloa cartel was arrested in addition to Guzmán.
Arrested and released once before
Ovidio Guzmán had previously been arrested in October 2019, but was released after violent street fighting on the orders of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (69). Several people were killed at the time, and public life came to a complete standstill.
Founded four decades ago by “El Chapo”, the Sinaloa cartel remains one of the most powerful drug cartels in Mexico. Among other things, it is accused by Washington of flooding the US market with fentanyl, a synthetic drug that is about 50 times more potent than heroin.
Five million on his head
Ovidio Guzmán aka “El Raton” (“The Mouse”) is the most famous member of “Los Chapitos”, which also includes his three brothers Joaquín, Iván Archivaldo and Jésus Alfredo. According to the Mexican authorities, they are also involved in drug trafficking.
Ovidio Guzmán is on the US wanted list for dealing in cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana. In addition, according to US investigators, he is said to have ordered the murder of informants, a drug dealer and a singer because he had refused to sing at his wedding.
US officials have offered a $5 million reward for information. Security expert David Saucedo (41) ruled out a connection between Biden’s upcoming visit to Mexico and Guzmán’s arrest. However, “American pressure on the Mexican government” since Guzman’s failed arrest in 2019 has led to this. (SDA/tva)