Authorities in Mexico have arrested the son of notorious drug kingpin El Chapo in the Jesús María district of the northwestern city of Culiacán.
Sinaloa Cartel Capo Ovidia Guzman, also known as “El Raton,” was arrested by the Mexican Army and National Guard after an intense gun battle that saw 10 military personnel and 19 suspected members of the Sinaloa drug cartel killed.
According to the Daily Mail, Guzman, whose nickname means “the Mouse,” was arrested amid a gun battle that turned the northern city of Culiacan into a war zone. Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval revealed that cartel members opened fire on troops with .50 caliber machine guns.
The shootout saw one policeman killed, with another 17 police officers and 35 military personnel injured.
Two army Blackhawk helicopter gunships responded at the scene and attacked a convoy of 25 cartel vehicles. Cartel members, however, opened fire on the aircraft, bringing them down with significant impact, according to Sandoval.
Sandoval added that one civilian airliner was hit after cartel members attacked the Culiacán international airport to prevent their boss from being flown out of the city. One footage has emerged showing passengers in the civilian airliner ducking behind their seats as gunfire erupted all around them.
Cartel members shot at fixed-wing aircraft, both military and civilian, at the airport. Sandoval said Mexican authorities anticipated the cartel’s attack on the airport and had already made plans to fly Guzman to Mexico City on a military helicopter.
Robert Almonte, a Texas-based security consultant and former El Paso narcotics investigator, said Guzman’s arrest was great news. He, however, had concerns with the timing of the arrest.
“I am suspicious that his capture occurred days before President Biden’s visit to Mexico and meeting with President [Andres Manuel Lopez] Obrador,” Almonte said. “This goes to show that the Mexican government can find and arrest the cartel leaders if they really want to.”
