Wave of violence in Sinaloa after the capture of Ovidio Guzmán, son of Chapo

The government of Mexico confirmed the arrest this Thursday of Ovidio Guzmán, son of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who is considered one of the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel.

The arrest was made at dawn in the municipality of Culiacán, in northern Mexico, which has unleashed violent episodes in the area such as roadblocks, shootings, vehicle fires and even shooting at an Aeroméxico plane.

Mexican Army Chief Luis Cresencio Sandoval denounced the capture of which he identified only as Ovidio N in accordance with Mexican law but confirmed that he was part of one of the cartel factions known as Los menores, referring to El Chapo’s sons .

Ovidio Guzmán was wanted by US authorities on charges of dealing cocaine, methamphetamines and marijuana from Mexico to that country from 2008 to 2018 with his brother Joaquín Guzmán López.

The arrest took place on the eve of President Joe Biden’s visit to Mexico and more than three years after a botched capture that was a humiliating defeat for the Mexican military.

Sandoval said the National Guard spotted armed personnel and armored vehicles typical of organized crime and when security circles were set up and inspections began, the armed forces came under attack.

Military troops responded to the attack and only later identified the drug trafficker, the general added.

Sandoval reported no deaths or injuries in the operation, but Cristóbal Castañeda, Sinaloa’s security secretary, had previously indicated that there were seven state police officers injured and that there were also wounded among the armed forces, although he did not number specified.

The army chief indicated that the capture prompted cartel members to carry out 19 blockades and armed attacks, among which he highlighted those that occurred at the airport and military air base.

All accesses to the city were blocked and there was a lot of violence, shootings and roadblocks and vehicle thefts, images that brought back to the memory of the inhabitants that fateful October 17, 2019, called “culiacanazo”, when the city was taken over by members of organized crime to free the drug trafficker arrested on Thursday.

The military action at the time ended in a humiliating defeat for the army after heavily armed cartel members took to the streets, wreaked havoc with gunfire, took soldiers hostage and ended up forcing the release of the son of the boss, all in just four hours of terror. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he ordered his release to save lives.