Mexico: arrest of Ovidio Guzmán, son of drug trafficker El Chapo

Ovidio Guzman Lopez, son of El Chapo, on October 17, 2019, in Culiacan.

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Just after the operation that led to his capture yesterday morning, armed commandos from the Sinaloa Cartel wreaked havoc in the town of Culiacán, in northeastern Mexico.

His capture comes four days before President Joe Biden's first visit to Mexico.

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With our correspondent in Mexico,

This time, the Mexican authorities had prepared their coup well.

When the Sinaloa Cartel learned of Ovidio Guzmán's arrest on Thursday morning, it sparked an outburst of violence in the region.

But the prisoner was already on a plane bound for Mexico City to be presented to the federal prosecution.

No more way for his men to take Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa, hostage, as in October 2019. Three years ago, barely arrested, Ovidio Guzmán had been released on the orders of President López Obrador to put an end to the massacre of civilians .

The Sinaloa Cartel had turned the city into a battlefield.

Result: eight dead.

But this Thursday, the town of Culiacán was cordoned off.

Ovidio was captured at dawn and in the aftermath authorities ordered residents to stay in their homes.

Businesses,

schools and all public buildings remained closed… awaiting reprisals.

These were explosive: the men of the cartel blocked roads, set fire to vehicles, provoked a shooting at the airport… In vain.

Ovidio Guzmán is in a high security prison near Mexico City.

He was one of the most wanted men in the United States, along with his two brothers, the other sons of El Chapo and leaders of a faction of the cartel who are still at large. 

Ovidio Guzmán would have taken over from his father and, at 32, he is considered one of the main traffickers of cocaine, methamphetamines and fentanyl to the United States.

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