At least 29 people died during the day of violence unleashed on Thursday in the state Mexican from Sinaloa after the arrest of Ovidio Guzmán, one of the sons of “Chapo” Guzmán most wanted by USA.
The Secretary of Defense, Luis Cresencio Sandoval, pointed out that of the 29 deceased, a dozen belonged to the Mexican Armed Forces and 19 to the criminal groups that generated the violent disturbances.
“Ten soldiers lost their lives in the line of duty in order to guarantee security. The Mexican State will give them funeral honors, ”he said at the daily press conference of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Sandoval was pleased that, according to current information, no innocent civilians lost their lives. Regarding the balance of wounded, he counted 35 soldiers injured by firearms, as well as damage to various land and air vehicles of the Armed Forces.
They also arrested 21 members of organized crime.
In the operation during and after the arrest of Ovidio Guzmán at dawn on Thursday, 3,586 members of the Armed Forces participated, who also faced the violence unleashed in the streets of cities such as Culiacán (capital of Sinaloa), Los Mochis or Mazatlán.
López Obrador stressed that the Government acted in a “responsible” manner to “take care of the civilian population, so that there were no innocent victims.”
We Mexicans are at the forefront, setting an example. Morning press conference, from the National Palace https://t.co/YOYb7ybdDY
– Andrés Manuel (@lopezobrador_) January 6, 2023
In addition, he added that the governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha, informed him that the situation in the region is normalizing, after suffering a day of blockades, attacks with bullets and cars set on fire.
“There are no armed groups in Sinaloa, in blockades, which are already removing since yesterday all the cars that were set on fire and that they used to block the streets, practically in the entire city (of Culiacán),” he explained.
The events in Sinaloa have aroused fear among citizens because they are reminiscent of the controversial “culiacanazo”, an operation in which federal forces arrested Ovidio on October 17, 2019, but released him hours later for violent acts by the Sinaloa Cartel.
Ovidio Guzmán fell.
As previously reported @lajornadaonlinethe son of ‘Chapo’ Guzmán was arrested and transferred to the #CDMXand in the afternoon a helicopter took him to the Altiplano prison, where he will appear before the judge.
It is also required by #EUhttps://t.co/QEgSxNaV57 pic.twitter.com/rgGKS5UXub— The Day (@lajornadaonline) January 6, 2023
Ovidio Guzmán was transferred on Thursday night to the Federal Center for Social Readaptation (Cefereso) number 1 Altiplano -also known as the Almoloya prison-, located in the State of Mexico, where his father was detained and from which he escaped in 2015.
All this happens days before the visit of the President of the United States, Joe Biden, on the occasion of the North American Leaders Summit. López Obrador denied that the United States was involved in the arrest.
Efe/OnCuba.
