The violent arrest Thursday in Culiacan, in northwestern Mexico, of one of the sons of the famous drug trafficker Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman left 29 dead during an exchange of heavy fire in several points of the city and up to the airport where three planes were hit, causing scenes of panic.
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“Ten soldiers (…) unfortunately lost their lives in the line of duty,” Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval announced on Friday, adding that there were also “19 dead” among the criminals. presumed.
Thirty-five other soldiers were wounded by bullets, while 21 people were arrested during this operation which did not cause any casualties among the population, according to the authorities.
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”).
The arrest of the alleged drug trafficker, accused of leading a faction linked to the Sinaloa Cartel founded four decades ago by his father, sparked a violent response with burned vehicles and shootings at several points in the city and up to the international airport.
An airliner and two aircraft of the Mexican Air Force were hit by projectiles moments before takeoff, during an attack launched to try to free “El Raton”.
Emergency landing
The official aircraft “had to make an emergency landing, despite the fact that they received a significant number of impacts”, explained the Secretary of Defense. None of these incidents resulted in injuries.
Footage circulating on social media showed passengers cowering to escape bullets, and airport workers hiding behind their counters.
Ovidio Guzman was transferred on an Air Force plane to Mexico City, where he was heard by the prosecution.
Footage released by local media then showed him, bearded and wearing an orange vest, boarding a helicopter heading for El Altiplano prison, from where his father escaped in 2015 .
His arrest comes three days before the arrival in Mexico of US President Joe Biden. Washington offered five million dollars for the capture of the sons of “Chapo”, imprisoned for life in the United States.
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard denied that the arrest was a gesture by his government towards Washington and ruled out any “express” extradition of “El Raton”.
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.
“El Raton” is wanted by US authorities for trafficking cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana into the United States.
According to US authorities, he has control of several clandestine laboratories that produce between 1,360 and 2,200 kilograms of methamphetamine per month.
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 adds.
In October 2019, “El Raton” 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.
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. .