MEXICOCITY, Jan 7 (Reuters) – Nineteen suspected gang members and 10 military personnel were killed in a wave of violence surrounding the arrest of Mexican drug cartel boss Ovidio Guzman in the northern state of Sinaloa, Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval said on Friday.
Mexican security forces captured Guzman, the 32-year-old son of jailed kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, in the early hours of Thursday morning, prompting hours of unrest and shootouts with gang members, the minister said.
The arrest spurred the powerful Sinaloa Cartel – once headed by El Chapo himself – to go on a rampage, setting vehicles on fire, blocking roads, and fighting security forces in and around Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa.
Twenty-one other people were arrested during Thursday’s operations, Sandoval told a news conference, adding there were no reports of any civilian deaths.
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President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said there were no immediate plans to extradite Ovidio to the United States, where his father is in a maximum security prison after being extradited in 2017 and found guilty in a New York court. Passengers on the Aeromexico airliner at Culiacan Airport huddled under their seats as gunfire rang out on the runway on Thursday.
Passenger David Telles said: “As we were accelerating for takeoff, we heard gunshots very close to the plane and everyone threw themselves to the ground.” Aeromexico said one of his planes was shot at Culiacan, but no one was injured.
The airport, which had been closed due to the riots, was due to reopen later on Friday.
In 2019, the operation to capture Ovidio failed and ended in the humiliation of the Lopez Obrador government. At the time, security forces briefly arrested Ovidio, sparking a backlash from cartel supporters and top authorities.
His latest capture comes next week before the North American summit in Mexico City, which will be attended by US President Joe Biden. Security cooperation must be on the agenda.
In 2021, the State Department announced it would pay his $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
Guzman, nicknamed “The Mouse,” was charged with conspiring to smuggle cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana into the United States. The State Department oversees a methamphetamine lab in Sinaloa, which produces “3,000 to 5,000 pounds” of the drug a month.
The State Department also said it had information indicating he ordered several murders, including the killing of a popular Mexican singer who refused to perform at a wedding.
The increasing influx of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States has led to record overdose deaths in the United States, increasing pressure to arrest Guzman.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration believes the Sinaloa Cartel and other gangs are responsible for most of the fentanyl in the United States.
