Once they captured their leader, gunmen from the criminal group carried out 19 blockades and attacks in the areaincluding the international airport of Culiacán, capital of Sinaloa, and a military air base.
“This arrest represents a forceful blow to the leadership of the Pacific Cartel,” added the Secretary.
Sandoval explained on the other hand that the capture was achieved thanks to six months of reconnaissance and surveillance work. Anyway, some experts pointed out that the operation could be related to the visit next week of the president of the United States, Joe Biden.
After his arrest, Guzmán, 32, was transferred to Mexico City in a military aircraft.
How was the capture operation?
This afternoon, the security forces, in their attempt to capture Guzmán they were intercepted by their gunmen and they had to contain the attack. In the middle of the violent crossing, the international airport of Culiacán had to close its operations.
Before the airport closed, an Aeroméxico plane was caught in the crossfire after trying to take off for Mexico City. It was about a Embraer 190 and was hit by a bulletbut the airline assured that the passengers and crew were safe.
The local government suggested that Culiacanenses stay home and said that schools and administrative offices were closed due to the violence. “Do not leave your houses, do not go out to work”insisted the governor, Rubén Rocha. The acts of violence also forced the rescheduling of a local league soccer match.
The previous arrest of Ovidio Guzmán
This is not the first time that the police have managed to capture Ovidio Guzmán, one of the key figures in the cartel after the imprisonment of his father in 2016. He had previously been detained in October 2019 but was quickly released to avoid “bloodshed” by his henchmen, as explained by the Mexican authorities about the controversial decision.
Since 2018, Guzmán has been wanted by the US authorities for being one of the main people responsible for trafficking fentanyl in the northern country. It is a powerful chemical drug that caused an epidemic of deaths in the United States.
“Without a doubt it is a strong blow since that criminal organization has the largest export of fentanyl. His capture, in large part, It has to do with pressure from the United States governmentwho already requested his extradition,” said Tomás Guevara, an expert on drug trafficking issues in Sinaloa.
Guzmán’s arrest could mean a change in the government’s approach to confronting drug trafficking, which was widely criticized. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador maintains that the methods carried out by his predecessors were unsuccessful and only caused more deaths. Instead, he proposed a strategy of “hugs, not bullets” upon assuming power in December 2018.
López Obrador acknowledged that One of the main challenges of his government, which ends in October 2024, is to contain the levels of insecurity. However, his mandate aims to end as the most violent six-year term in the modern history of Mexico.
Source: Ambito
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