Violent fighting in Mexico in connection with arrest leader of drug cartel Ovidio Guzman
2023.01.05 15:28
Violent fighting in Mexico in connection with arrest leader of drug cartel Ovidio Guzman
Budrigannews.com – Ovidio Guzman, the leader of the Mexican drug cartel and a son of jailed kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, was arrested on Thursday. This sparked a violent backlash by gang gunmen, who shut down the airport in the city of Culiacan and told residents to stay inside.
The senior Sinaloa Cartel member, who was 32 years old, was captured by security forces, according to Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval at a press conference. Three years ago, the government was humiliated when they tried to detain him, so they arrested him.
Sandoval stated that Ovidio was currently being held in Mexico City, its capital.
Reuters was unable to confirm social media videos that appeared to show heavy fighting overnight in Culiacan, the main city in the northern state of Sinaloa, with helicopter gunfire lighting up the sky.
The city’s airport was the target of the violence. Aeromexico, a Mexican airline, said that one of its planes was hit by gunfire before a flight to Mexico City was scheduled. It stated that no one was hurt. The airport remained closed until late on Thursday.
Since his father’s arrest, Ovidio has become a key figure in the cartel. In 2019, he was briefly detained, but he was quickly released to stop his gang’s violent retaliation in Culiacan. The incident was a humiliating setback for President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s administration.
His most recent capture comes before a summit of North American leaders that will take place next week in Mexico City. U.S. President Joe Biden will be there, and security issues will be discussed at the summit.
Prior to Vice President Biden’s visit, a Mexican official stated that Guzman’s arrest was likely to be a welcome addition to security cooperation between the United States and Mexico.
For information that could lead to Ovidio’s capture or conviction, the United States had offered a $5 million reward.
Whether Ovidio will be extradited to the United States like his father, who is currently incarcerated in Colorado’s Supermax, the most secure federal prison in the United States, is unknown at this time.
The synthetic opioid fentanyl has contributed to an increase in the number of overdose deaths in the United States, which has increased pressure on Mexico to take action against the groups that produce and ship the drug, like the Sinaloa Cartel.
One of the most powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world is the cartel.
Tomas Guevara, a security expert at the Autonomous University of Sinaloa, believes that Guzman’s arrest helps Mexican authorities avoid the embarrassment of having to let El Chapo’s son go in 2019 by saving their face.
He stated, “Ovidio’s detention is finally the culmination of something planned three years ago.”
Guevara added that it might also signal a shift in the government’s approach after numerous security experts accused Lopez Obrador, whom he denies, of being lenient toward the cartels.
According to the president, he will pursue a strategy of “hugs not bullets” because he believes that the confrontational tactics used by his predecessors were ineffective and only contributed to additional violence.
Following Guzman’s associates’ arrest in the Culiacan region on Thursday morning, security forces attempted to contain a violent response.
The streets were littered with burned vehicles, and pickup trucks carrying heavily armed law enforcement officers were patrolling.
“We continue to work on controlling the situation,” Sinaloa’s public security chief Cristobal Castaneda stated.
Schools and administrative offices were said to be closed as a result of the violence, and the local government urged people to stay inside. Additionally, street blockades had been erected.
Culiacan Mayor Juan de Dios Gamez posted on Twitter, “We ask the citizens of Culiacan not to leave home due to the blockades that have occurred in different parts of the city.”
In 2019, the 65-year-old Joaquin Guzman was found guilty in New York of bringing billions of dollars worth of drugs into the United States and conspiring to kill enemies.
According to Eduardo Guerrero, director of Lantia Consulting, which conducts research on Mexican organized crime, the Biden administration’s recent pressure to target the Sinaloa Cartel likely prompted Mexico to pursue Guzman.
However, he cautioned that despite the fact that Ovidio’s capture was likely to weaken that cartel, it could help their main rival, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which is known for its violent behavior.
“The government must keep in mind that the weakening of the Sinaloa Cartel may also result in the Jalisco Cartel’s even greater expansion and increased presence.
More Germany and U. S. will send military equipment to Ukraine
