A shootout during the arrest of the son of drug lord El Chapo in Mexico killed 29 people.
According to Mexican Defense Minister Luis Cresensio Sandoval, 10 military and 19 alleged members of drug cartels were killed in the operation to arrest Ovidio Guzmán-López. Another 21 people were detained. There were no casualties, Sandoval added.
The operation was accompanied by shooting and arson of cars, several balls hit the plane of a local airline, reports the BBC.
Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador said the Mexican government has no plans to immediately extradite El Chapo’s son to the United States. He said the Mexican judges would make that decision, adding that the U.S. military was not involved in Guzmán-López’s arrest.
According to the Minister of Defense of Mexico, General Luis Cresensio Sandoval, before the arrest of Ovidio Guzman-Lopez, he was secretly monitored for six months.
Guzmán-López is accused of being the head of a branch of the Sinaloa drug cartel, founded by his father, according to Mexico’s defense minister. This is one of the world’s largest underground organizations involved in the production, smuggling and drug trade.
Sandoval also clarified that the operation to capture the drug lord was carried out with the support of the US authorities, and now the criminal is in a safe place in the country’s capital, Mexico City.
After it became known about the arrest of the drug lord, riots broke out in the city, shooting began, cars on the streets caught fire. Videos of burning buses blocking roads are circulating on social media.
The arrest of the drug lord and the riots in Culiacan came on the eve of a visit to Mexico by US President Joe Biden, who will take part in the summit of North American leaders that opens in Mexico City next week.
In 2019, the Mexican authorities had already arrested Guzmán-López, but were forced to release him so as not to provoke his supporters to violence.
The US State Department believes that Ovidio and his brother Joaquin own at least 11 methamphetamine laboratories in the state of Sinaloa, which produce between 1300 and 2200 kg of drugs per month.
Washington also alleges that Guzmán-López gave orders to kill informants, smugglers who didn’t please him, and even a popular Mexican singer who refused to sing at his wedding.
In December, the US offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest or sentencing of Ovidio and his three brothers, who are believed to continue to run the gang after their father, El Chapo, was imprisoned.
Korotun himself is serving a life sentence in the United States. In 2019, he was found guilty of drug smuggling and money laundering.
Source: Racurs
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