Thursday, January 5, 2023 | 11:00 p.m.
The Mexican authorities announced today the capture of Ovidio Guzmán, son of the detained drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, in an operation that unleashed fires, blockades and attacks in the town of Culiacán, northwestern Mexico.
According to official versions collected by the local newspaper El Universal, Ovidio Guzmán is already in the facilities of military camp 1 in Mexico City.
The Mexican authorities confirmed tonight that the intelligence tasks took “six months of work” and that Guzmán was intercepted when he was in an armored truck, escorted by armed drug traffickers. Guzmán will be brought to justice. The Mexican government denied that he is immediately extradited to the United States.
The shootings between drug traffickers and security forces occurred in various parts of Culiacán – capital of the state of Sinaloa – and spread to the city’s airport, the AFP news agency reported.
Operations at the air terminal were suspended until 10 p.m. today (local time), and classes at educational institutions were suspended.
After registering blockades and shootings in Culiacán and the nearby city of Los Mochis, sources consulted stated that priority targets of the Federal Government were surrounded, including Ovidio Guzmán.
After today’s operation, Cristóbal Castañeda Camarillo, Secretary of Public Security in Sinaloa, asked the population to remain in their homes to safeguard their integrity.
Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Mexico alerted US citizens about the events in Sinaloa and asked to avoid traveling to the area.
Ovidio Guzmán is one of the heirs of “Chapo” Guzmán, former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.
The United States requested the extradition of Ovidio Guzmán by pointing to him as one of the leaders of his own criminal cell, under the protection of the Sinaloa cartel.
Washington assures that Ovidio Guzmán López, alias “El Ratón”, along with his brother Joaquín “El Güero” lead and control the drug trafficking operations of a criminal cell protected by the cartel.
Ovidio’s recapture occurs almost four years after the so-called “culiacanazo” of October 17, 2019, when the federal government released him to avoid major confrontations with the armed commandos of the Sinaloa Cartel.
