Ovidio Guzman was briefly arrested after federal police patrol came under fire from a house where he was holed up with three others on Thursday afternoon. Once the cartel learned the drug lord’s son had been apprehended, groups of armed criminals began attacking police all over the city with heavy firepower, blocking roads and setting vehicles on fire.
More cartel reinforcements heading to #Culiacán, including another up-armoured technical armed with an M2 .50 Cal machine gun.
Many of these technicals appear to have armoured windshields as well. pic.twitter.com/3h8OzHmW4E
— Jimmy (@JimmySecUK) October 18, 2019
The gunmen surrounded the house where Guzman had been nabbed “with a force greater than that of the patrol,” Security Minister Alfonso Durazo said.
To all those people who love to ask me about growing up in Culiacan. Who binge-watch all those narco shows and romanticize the capos. This is the reality of it. What real people in the real world have to endure. #Culiacan #PrayForCuliacan pic.twitter.com/UIvDktcru9
— Natalia Sandoval (@curiousnats) October 18, 2019
www.rt.com/news/471184-mexico-elchapo-son-cartel-battle/
MEXICO CITY —
Mexican security forces captured and then released one of country’s most powerful drug lords Thursday after apparently being overpowered by heavily armed combatants who laid siege to the northern Mexican city of Culiacan.
Security Minister Alfonso Durazo told Reuters that officials were trying to protect lives when they decided to free Ovidio Guzman Lopez, a leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel and the son of notorious drug boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
Others speculated, however, that authorities may have colluded with gang members in Guzman’s release.
The cartel’s victory was a stunning humiliation for the Mexican government, which has struggled to quell growing violence across the country.