January 5, 2023, 2:22 PM
January 5, 2023, 2:22 PM
Intense shootings and burning of vehicles were recorded this Thursday in the Mexican city of Culiacán (northwest) after an operation in which he was reportedly arrested Ovid Guzman, son of jailed drug trafficker Joaquín “Chapo” Guzmán, authorities reported.
The shootings between criminals and security forces occurred at various points of Culiacán -capital of the state of Sinaloa-, four days before the arrival in Mexico of US President Joe Biden, whose country offers five million dollars for the capture of Guzmán, alias “El Ratón”.
Biden will attend the North American Leaders Summit in Mexico City.
The exchange of fire extended to the international airport of Culiacán, observed an AFP reporter.
Operations at the air terminal were suspended, while incidents were reported in a prison where several drug traffickers are being held.
A security source who asked not to be identified confirmed to AFP that the violence broke out after an operation to capture Ovidio Guzmán, one of the heirs of “Chapo”, sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States.
According to various Mexican media, citing federal sources, during that deployment Guzmán and a head of hit men from the Sinaloa cartel were arrested, considered by the DEA anti-drug agency as the main person responsible for trafficking fentanyl, a drug 50 times more powerful than heroin and which has caused numerous overdose deaths in that country.
Guzman, 32 years old and one of the heads of that organization, had already been arrested on October 17, 2019 in Culiacán, but was released by order of the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in the midst of a riot by the criminal organization.
The leftist president then defended his decision, stating that a bloodbath was avoided, when military contingents were surrounded by civilians with long weapons.
Several cargo vehicles and cars burned this Thursday in the streets of Culiacán, with 800,000 inhabitants, where scenes of panic were observed among people who were looking for a place to protect themselves.
In total, some 30 blockades were found, including three vehicle tolls, by gunmen.
The governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha, He said earlier that the operation of the Armed Forces was concentrated in the area of Jesús María, municipality of Culiacán.
“This has given rise to some violent events in the capital and other places in the state,” he said on Twitter.
President López Obrador announced Thursday morning that his Security Minister, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, will present in the next few hours the balance of the operation that began at dawn.
Following these incidents, The authorities suspended classes in educational institutions and a game of the professional soccer league.
The violence in Culiacán occurred in parallel to operations in Ciudad Juárez (north, on the border with the United States), in which Ernesto Piñón, alias “El Neto”, was killed, who escaped along with 24 other prisoners from a prison in that city last Sunday.
During the assault on the prison to rescue Piñón and the operations to recapture the escapees, at least 26 people died: 10 prison guards, seven prisoners, two police officers and seven suspected gunmen.
“The Net” he led a gang associated with a drug cartel.
