Culiacan sieged by cartel after son of 'El Chapo' is captured - Los Angeles Times

Armed men took hostages, burned vehicles and stormed an airdrome successful bluish Mexico connected Thursday aft national forces captured Ovidio Guzmán, 1 of the world’s astir wanted cartel leaders and the lad of notorious cause lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

The cause brag was arrested aft a predawn gunfight successful the metropolis of Culiacán, a stronghold of Guzmán’s Sinaloa cartel, and was aboriginal flown to Mexico City, according to Mexican Secretary of Defense Luis Cresencio Sandoval González.

Officials canceled flights, suspended schoolhouse and ordered residents to structure successful spot arsenic cartels responded to Guzmán’s apprehension by throwing up roadworthy blockades crossed the authorities of Sinaloa, with the worst of the unit concentrated successful Culiacán. Sandoval said cartel fighters blocked each six entrances to the metropolis with burning vehicles and attacked the city’s airdrome arsenic good arsenic an aerial unit basal located nearby.

One section journalist, Marcos Vizcarra, said helium had been efficaciously taken hostage on with different civilians successful a hotel, their cars confiscated by equipped gunmen to beryllium incinerated successful the streets.

The melodramatic cartel effect appeared modeled aft a bloody siege connected Culiacán successful 2019, the past clip national forces sought to seizure 32-year-old Ovidio Guzmán.

Vehicles pain successful Culiacan, Mexico, connected Oct. 17, 2019, aft the apprehension of the lad of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán there. A akin country was playing retired Thursday arsenic Ovidio Guzmán was reportedly arrested a 2nd clip successful Culiacan.

(AFP via Getty Images)

In 2019, national forces raided a luxurious Culiacán compound and subdued Ovidio Guzmán, who has helped pb the Sinaloa cartel since his begetter was sentenced to beingness successful situation successful the United States.

But arsenic Mexican nationalist defender members were attempting to instrumentality him into custody, hundreds of Sinaloa fighters seized power of the city, taking hostages, blocking intersections with burning vehicles and laying siege to a lodging analyzable for the families of subject personnel. Eight radical were killed. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador yet ordered Guzmán’s merchandise to debar much bloodshed. “You can’t worth the beingness of a delinquent implicit the lives of the people,” helium said.

Many Mexicans and U.S. instrumentality enforcement unit were furious astir the bungled operation, which they said humiliated national forces and sent a unsafe connection to transgression groups.

The recapture of Guzmán comes days earlier a scheduled sojourn to Mexico by President Biden, the archetypal travel to the state by a U.S. president since 2014.

Some successful Mexico speculated that it was timed to delight the Americans, who person grumbled astir the efficacy of the Mexican president’s “hugs not bullets” crime-fighting strategy and his protection of a erstwhile defence curate charged by U.S. officials with collaborating with organized crime.

Retired Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos, who served arsenic defence curate from 2012 to 2018, was arrested connected suspicion of cause trafficking astatine Los Angeles International Airport successful 2020, but was released aft an aggravated lobbying run by Mexican diplomats. López Obrador aboriginal said Cienfuegos would not look charges successful Mexico and accused the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration of fabricating a lawsuit against him.

The incident, on with López Obrador’s determination to extremity the bi-national information pact known arsenic the Mérida Initiative, outraged U.S. instrumentality enforcement.

Jorge Israel Hernandez, a prof astatine the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said connected Twitter that López Obrador was “cleaning the location earlier Biden arrives, acquisition successful manus with bow and all.”

Former President Vicente Fox, a large professional of López Obrador, said successful a tweet that “Ovidio volition beryllium the acquisition for Biden.”

Meanwhile, the concern connected the crushed successful Culiacán appeared acold from contained.

After videos circulated showing gunfire astatine the airport, Aeromexico, the country’s largest airline, said 1 of its planes had been attacked, but said determination had been nary injuries. Rubén Rocha Moya, the politician of Sinaloa state, called connected citizens “to stay calm and instrumentality structure successful their homes.”

Vizcarra, the section writer being held by the cartel, said his car was seized by equipped men Thursday greeting portion helium was attempting to study connected the unit successful Culiacán. In a dependable memo sent implicit WhatsApp, helium said helium had been taken to a edifice connected the bluish broadside of the city, and was being held with others. The equipped men, helium said, “are taking much keys to pain much cars.”

Cecilia Sánchez successful The Times’ Mexico City bureau contributed to this report.