The military operation that resulted Thursday in northwestern Mexico in the arrest of Ovidio Guzman, one of the sons of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, left 10 soldiers engaged and 19 among the suspected criminals, the government announced on Friday.
“Ten soldiers (…) unfortunately lost their lives in the line of duty,” Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval told reporters, adding that there were also “19 dead” among suspected criminals.
Thirty-five other soldiers were wounded by bullets, while 21 people were arrested during this operation carried out in Culiacan, in the capital of the state of Sinaloa, during which intense fire exchanges occurred.
The previous assessment reported one dead and 28 injured.
A senior army officer was among the victims, Mr. Sandoval said, adding that his patrol had been attacked following the arrest of Ovidio Guzman, alias “El Raton” (“the Mouse”).
“We have no information about any civilians who may have lost their lives,” Mr. Sandoval added.
An airliner and two Mexican Air Force planes were hit by projectiles moments before takeoff, according to the same source.
The official aircraft “had to make an emergency landing, despite the fact that they had received a significant number of impacts”, indicated the Secretary of Defense. None of these incidents resulted in injuries.
Ovidio Guzman is accused of leading the “Los Menores faction, linked to the Pacific cartel”, another name for the Sinaloa cartel, announced Secretary of Defense Luis Cresencio Sandoval.
This cartel was founded four decades ago by “El Chapo”, imprisoned for life in the United States.
His arrest took place three days before the arrival in Mexico of US President Joe Biden. The United States offered five million dollars for the capture of the sons of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
The Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marcelo Ebrard, denied that this arrest was a gesture of his government with regard to Washington and ruled out any “express” extradition of “El Raton”.
The alleged 32-year-old drug trafficker was transferred on an Air Force plane to Mexico City, where he was first heard by the prosecution.
Footage released by local media shows Guzman, bearded and wearing an orange vest, then boarding a helicopter heading to El Altiplano prison, where his father escaped from in 2015.
According to several Mexican media, citing federal sources, another leader of the Sinaloa cartel has been arrested.
In Culiacan, intense exchanges of fire between security forces and armed men followed the arrest and several vehicles were set on fire.
In particular, shootings took place at the city’s airport, where flights were suspended. Footage circulating on social media showed passengers cowering to escape bullets, and airport workers hiding behind their counters.
“Los Chapitos”
Ovidio Guzman is the best-known member of the “Los Chapitos” clan, which also includes his three brothers Joaquin, Ivan Archivaldo and Jesus Alfredo, who are also involved in drug trafficking, according to Mexican authorities.
Ovidio Guzman is wanted by US authorities for trafficking cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana into the United States.
The US State Department says he got into the drug trade after his brother Edgar was shot dead in 2008 in Culiacan. Together with his other brother Joaquin, they then started buying marijuana in Mexico, cocaine in Colombia and ephedrine in Argentina to produce methamphetamine.
According to US authorities, “El Raton” has control of several clandestine laboratories that produce between 1,360 and 2,200 kilograms of methamphetamine per month.
These various drugs “are sold to other cartel members and distributors in the United States and Canada,” according to a State Department report.
Fentanyl Trafficking
The Sinaloa Cartel is considered by the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to be the main perpetrator of the trafficking of fentanyl, a drug 50 times more potent than heroin, which has caused numerous overdose deaths in the United States.
“Other information indicates that Ovidio ordered the killing of informants, a drug dealer and a famous singer who refused to sing at his wedding,” the report added.
In October 2019, Ovidio Guzman was briefly arrested, then released on the orders of President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador after a violent uprising in Culiacan following his arrest. The president had justified this criticized decision, arguing that a bloodbath had been avoided.
Guzman’s capture “isn’t a result of Biden’s visit, but of the pressure the Americans put on the federal government” after the failed 2019 arrest, said David Saucedo, a law enforcement expert. security.
After 15 years of trying unsuccessfully to defeat powerful cartels with armed force, the United States and Mexico have shifted their counter-narcotics cooperation in 2021 to further tackle poverty, at the root of drug trafficking. .
Another police operation was carried out Thursday in Ciudad Juarez, in northern Mexico, during which the leader of a gang allied with the Juarez cartel in its war against that of Sinaloa was killed.
The latter, Ernesto Piñon, alias “El Neto”, escaped on Sunday with 24 other prisoners from a city prison during an armed attack on the prison establishment which left 19 dead, including ten guards.