A prolonged shootout between Mexican security forces and suspected cartel members in Sinaloa state this week was an intentional and ultimately abandoned attempt to capture a son of the imprisoned drug lord, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman for extradition to the United States, Mexican officials now say.
According to reports, troops detain Ovidio Guzman Lopez during an operation in the city of Culican. He was later released as the battle raged on and the operation was suspended to save lives, the country’s defense secretary and security minister said Friday.
According to sources from New York, Times, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico on Friday defended the country’s security forces for capturing and then releasing a son of the infamous drug lord El Chapo.
The battle, which sent families hiding in terror for hours, left seven people dead: Five “aggressors,” one Mexican National Guard member, and one civilian, Security Minister Alfonso Durazo said according to reports from CNN.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador acknowledged Friday that security forces went to Culiacan to capture the son on a judge’s order. Mexico’s Security Cabinet eventually suspended the operation “to protect the lives of the people,” he said.
He did not deny when pressed by reporters, that Ovidio Guzman Lopez was released.
“The capture of a criminal cannot be worth more than the lives of the people … many citizens, people, human beings were at risk,” López Obrador said during a press briefing in Oaxaca.
The scope of the violence and the decision to release the son was stunning even in Mexico, where life is frequently punctuated by drug-related violence and impunity by cartel fighters. It was a major humiliation for the government of Mr. López Obrador, who has struggled to articulate a clear security strategy to combat Mexico’s record violence.
Nine government soldiers or law enforcement officers who were captured by the suspected cartel members during the battle were released when the government stopped the operation, Mexican Secretary of National Defense Luis Cresencio said Friday during a news conference in Sinaloa according to reports from CNN.
Guzman Lopez, 28, is believed to have a large role in powerful Sinaloa drug cartel and faces charges in the US of conspiracy to distribute drugs along with the drug lord, El Chapo.
According to reports from New York Times, the violence began shortly after 3:30 p.m. in Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa State, when a patrol of 30 soldiers came under attack by individuals in a home in the neighborhood of Tres Ríos, according to government officials.
After taking control of the home, the security forces encountered and detained four men among them Mr. Guzmán López, a leader in the Sinaloa cartel. Cartel gunmen then surrounded the home and engaged the armed forces, the officials said. But they ultimately decided to release him.
Later, the cartel deployed fighters throughout the neighborhood and began burning vehicles and blockading streets throughout the city. The echo of gunfire sent citizens fleeing for safety as the assault began, while others sat trapped in their vehicles, capturing footage on cellphone cameras.
According to reports from CNN, in February, Ovidio Guzman Lopez was charged with conspiracy to distribute drugs to be imported into the US, along with his brother Joaquin Guzman Lopez, 34, by the US Department of Justice.
Prosecutors said that from April 2008 through April 2018, the brothers conspired to distribute cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine from Mexico and other places to be imported into the US.
According to reports from New York, Times, Mexico is facing its deadliest year since the country began recording homicide statistics more than 20 years ago. Warfare between rival cartels fighting for control of the drug trade to the United States has turned parts of the country into some of the deadliest places on earth.
The government has continued to target top cartel leaders in its now 13-year war on drugs.
