Brutal violence in Mexico: Members of the Sinaloa drug cartel set fire to vehicles, erected numerous roadblocks and exchanged fierce gunfire with security forces on Thursday. The fighting extends to the local airport. According to Aeromexico airline and the government, a passenger plane and a military plane were hit by bullets. Air traffic has been halted. School classes and sporting events have also been cancelled.
It is the response to the arrest of Ovidio Guzmán (32), a few days before the planned visit of US President Joe Biden (80). Guzmán is said to have helped his father, notorious drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán (65), to continue his drug trade after his father’s arrest.
Also caught a hit man
According to the government, 29 people were killed when the 32-year-old was arrested. Ten soldiers and 19 “lawbreakers” were among the dead, Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval, 62, said on Friday. Ovidio Guzmán was arrested in northern Mexico on Thursday after suspected members of Guzmán’s drug cartel engaged in fierce gun battles with security forces.
After his arrest, Ovidio Guzmán was taken to Mexico City on an Air Force plane, where the prosecutor’s office questioned him. He was subsequently placed in Altiplano Prison. According to media reports, a head of hitmen from the Sinaloa Cartel has also been arrested in addition to Guzmán.
Arrested and released once before
Ovidio Guzmán had been arrested earlier in October 2019, but was released after violent street fighting on the orders of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (69). There were then deaths 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. It is accused by Washington, among other things, of flooding the US market with fentanyl, a synthetic drug about 50 times more potent than heroin.
Five million on his head
Ovidio Guzmán alias “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 trafficking cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana. In addition, according to American investigators, he 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, “U.S. pressure on the Mexican government” since Guzman’s botched arrest in 2019 has led to this.
Guzmán cannot be extradited to the US for the time being. A federal judge ruled on Friday at the request of the 32-year-old’s lawyers that all extradition proceedings for Ovidio Guzmán should be suspended until further notice. (SDA/TVA)