MEXICO CITY (AP) -January,6 –Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has lashed out at his predecessors’ aggressive efforts to catch the drug lord, but his administration came just days before President Joe Biden took office.
A Culiacan resident posted a video on social media showing a convoy of the shooter in his pickup truck and his SUV rolling through the city’s thoroughfares. At least one of his convoys included a flatbed his truck, the same type of vehicle that sparked riots in the 2019 riots, with a cannon mounted in the rear. All entrances to the city were blocked and similar actions took place in other parts of Sinaloa.
The Reverend Esteban Robles, spokesman for the Roman Catholic diocese of Culiacan, said there was “an atmosphere of uncertainty and tension” and those who were able to stay in their homes
Mexican security forces suspected U.S. wanted drug trafficker Ovidio Guzman and the son of former Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman for an operation in the northwestern state of Sinaloa on October 6.
Telles pushed his family back to Mexico City, avoiding several abandoned vehicles blocking the road and eventually making it to the airport.
So the family rushed to check in to their flight before airport restaurant staff evacuated them to the restroom. The shooter arrived at the airport and stopped authorities from popping Guzman.
Juan Carlos Ayala, a professor at Sinaloa University who studies the sociology of drug trafficking and lives in Culiacan, said Ovidio Guzman has been an obvious target since at least 2019.
This may be due to the funds the cartels bring to the region, but also because locals know that the cartels will continue to exist even after the federal troops leave. As bad as it is, cartels ensure relative stability, if not peace.
Guzman was indicted by the United States on drug trafficking charges in 2018. He, along with longtime cartel boss Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, had a growing role among his brothers in continuing his father’s business, according to both governments.
Secretary of State Marcelo Ebrard confirmed in 2019 that the government had received a request from the United States to extradite Guzman. He said the application would need to be updated and processed, but added that Guzman first had unresolved lawsuits waiting for him in Mexico.
