Ovidio Guzmán López, son of infamous convicted drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán. Photo: Google

PULSE NEWS MEXICO

Ovidio Guzmán López, son of infamous convicted drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, was detained on Thursday, Jan. 5, during a police operation that resulted in shootings and drug blockades in the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa, official sources reported.

The operation was carried out in Culiacán, Sinaloa, by more than 900 elite troops from the Mexican Army, the Mexican Air Force, local police and the National Guard (GN), who used a helicopter gunship to attack the alleged criminal cell in a surprise assault that began at 4:40 a.m. after several highway blockades had been set up by the alleged criminals the day before in Culiacán and the nearby municipality of Los Mochis.

Tensions between the cartels and authorities had reached the point that the Culiacán government on Wednesday, Jan. 4, ordered public schools closed and had asked residents to remain in their houses.

At least one officer was reported killed in the confrontation, and Guzmán López was transferred to the Campo Militar military base in Mexico city later in the day.

During his daily press conference on Thursday, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) confirmed the operation and said that details of the arrest will be given later.

Government forces had previously arrested Guzmán López, a member of the world’s largest drug-trafficking organization, the Sinaloa Cartel, in late 2019, but had released him on orders of López Obrador, an event that led to serious public condemnation and allegations that the president was “in bed” with the Sinaloa Cartel.

The United States, which has several outstanding warrants out for Guzmán López, has asked for him to be extradited for trial there, but Mexico’s Foreign Relations Secretariat on Thursday said that it will not consider fast-tracking that request.