It began at dawn and was the culmination of a six-month intelligence operation.
Ovidio Guzmán López, son of drug trafficker Joaquín “el Chapo Guzmán”, was arrested on Thursday, January 5, in the city of Culiacán, in the state of Sinaloa, in an operation in which 10 soldiers and 19 suspected criminals died.
Another 35 people were injured and there are 21 detainees, according to the Mexican government this Friday.
His arrest unleashed a wave of drug violence in the area as organized crime responded in the form of shootings, roadblocks and vehicle fires.
According to the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), there is already “calm” in Sinaloa. López Obrador said this Friday that he was informed by the state governor, Rubén Rocha Moya, that there are no longer blockades on the street and that the burnt-out vehicles are being removed.
However, he added that the presence of the Secretary of Defense, the National Guard and the state police would be maintained “so that there is no harm to the civilian population” and assured that the operation took responsibly to protectthem.
Here we tell you what is known about the operation against Ovidio Guzmán, who was transferred to the maximum security prison of El Altiplano.
Operation early in the morning
The operation to capture the son of El Chapo, alias El Raton, began at dawn on Thursday, January 5, when agents of the National Guard, supported from a distance by the Army, identified that in the northwest of the city there were armed people in various type trucks pickup.
Some of them were armored by hand, as organized crime groups do, the Mexican Secretary of National Defense explained to the press on Thursday, Luis Cresencio Sandoval.
Upon detecting this situation, the agents surrounded the area to avoid a possible escape and approached the vehicles.
“Once the fence was established, the authorities persuaded those who were in the vehicles to get out to be searched, at which time the national guards were subjected to armed aggression,” said Sandoval.
After the exchange of shots, the National Guard agents managed to take control of the situation and identified Ovidio “El Ratón” Guzmán as one of those inside the trucks.
arrest and transfer
At 6:20 in the morning local time, according to the National Registry of Detentions of Mexico, Guzmán was arrested.
According to Sandoval, he had weapons from the Mexican Army and Air Force with him.
“Moments after the arrest, cells members of his criminal group carried out 19 blockades and armed attacks in different parts of the city of Culiacánamong which the Culiacán Federal International Airport and the number 10 military air base stand out,” the official reported.
“In the same way, all accesses to the city of Culiacán were blocked,” he added.
Ovidio Guzmán was transferred to the Organized Crime Prosecutor’s Office in Mexico City in a Mexican Air Force aircraft.
“This arrest represents a blunt blow to the leadership of the capacific rtel [Sinaloa]”, highlighted Sandoval.
The operation, the defense secretary said, was the result of six months of security work in the area of influence of the criminal group led by Guzmán.
Sandoval reported this Friday that dozens of various types of firearms, chargers, cartridges and various tactical equipment were also seized during the operation. Dozens of vehicles were also disabled.
Also wanted by the United States
The 32-year-old son of El Chapo is accused of being the leader of the criminal group Los Menores (also known as Los Chapitos), a member of the Sinaloa cartel led by his father.
He was arrested in 2019, but was placed released quickly in the face of a violent war unleashed by criminal groups in Sinaloa.
The criminal was also wanted by the United States, which offered up to $5 million dollars for any clue or information that would lead to his arrest.
According to the US, Ovidio Guzmán and his brother Joaquín hold high-ranking positions in the Sinaloa cartel and are considered responsible for overseeing more than a dozen methamphetamine laboratories in Sinaloa.
“Other sources of information indicate that Ovidio Guzmán López has ordered the murders of informants, a drug trafficker, and a popular Mexican singer who refused to sing at his wedding,” the US State Department says on its website.
In 2018, both brothers were indicted by a US federal grand jury for conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana.
Although there has been an extradition request from the US since 2019, this Friday a Mexican federal judge halted for the moment any attempt to transfer him to the neighboring country and ordered that he remain at the judge’s disposal.
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