The arrest of Ovidio Guzman sparked violent gunfire between police and drug dealers on Thursday, January 5, 2022 in the streets of Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Mexico. MARTIN URISTA/PA
Mexican security forces on Thursday (January 5) arrested one of the sons of the famous drug lord imprisoned in the United States, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, during an operation in the north-west of the country.
Ovidio Guzman was arrested in the city of Culiacan, Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval announced. He is accused of leading the “Los Menores faction associated with the Pacific Cartel,” another name for the Sinaloa Cartel. The suspected drug dealer, 32, was transferred to Mexico City on an Air Force plane.
After his arrest in the Sinaloa state capital, and specifically at the airport where flights were grounded, fierce exchanges of fire broke out between the army, the National Guard and gunmen, a journalist from Agence France-Presse reported.
An airliner was hit by a bullet just before takeoff, Aeromexico said in a statement, adding that the passengers were then taken to safety.
Several burning vehicles were also emitting thick smoke, causing panic among the city’s population. schools were closed.
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Joe Biden’s visit to Mexico
The arrest comes ahead of US President Joe Biden’s arrival in Mexico on Sunday, a day earlier than expected, for a summit with Mexican and Canadian leaders.
The United States offered five million dollars to capture Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s sons.
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard denied that this arrest was a gesture by his government to Washington and ruled out an “express” extradition of “El Raton”.
Ovidio Guzman, aka “El Raton” (the Mouse), is believed to be the leader of “Los Menores,” a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel founded four decades ago by his father, who is currently serving a life sentence in the United States states. He is the best known of the “Los Chapitos” clan, which also includes his three other brothers, Joaquin Guzman, Ivan Archivaldo and Jesus Alfredo.
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The US State Department says he got into the drug business after his brother Edgar was shot dead in Culiacan in 2008. According to the US authorities, “El Raton” controls several secret laboratories that produce between 1,360 and 2,200 kilograms of methamphetamine every month.
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These various drugs “are sold to other cartel members and dealers in the United States and Canada,” according to the State Department.
fentanyl trade
The Sinaloa cartel is considered by the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to be a prime culprit in trafficking fentanyl, a drug that is 50 times more potent than heroin and has caused numerous overdose deaths in the United States.
“Other information indicates that Ovidio ordered the killings of whistleblowers, 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 and then released following his arrest by order of President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador following a violent uprising in Culiacan. The president had justified this criticized decision by saying that a bloodbath had been avoided.