Arrest of Ovidio Guzmán “forceful blow” to the Sinaloa Cartel: Sedena

Three years after releasing him, the Mexican Armed Forces recaptured in Culiacán, Sinaloa, a Ovid Guzman Lopez, “El Ratón”, son of drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. The recapture, as occurred in October 2019, caused dozens of men from the Sinaloa Cartel to riot to prevent the removal of their leader to Mexico City.

The Secretary of National Defense, Louis Crescent Sandovalindicated that “El Ratón” —who led the “Los Menores” faction within the Sinaloa Cartel—, had already been transferred to the Specialized Prosecutor for Organized Crime (Femdo) in Mexico City, where he will undergo medical examinations, and will later appear before a judge on the occasion of a request for his arrest requested by the United States government for drug trafficking crimes.

“This arrest represents a resounding blow to the leadership of the power of the Pacific Cartel”, affirmed the head of the Sedena.

The Federal Security Secretary Rosa Icela Rodriguezsaid that the federal government, with this capture, “we have not come to win a war, we have come to build peace.”

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In December 2021, the United States government offered $5 million for information leading to the whereabouts of Ovidio Guzmán in order to recapture him.

recapture operation

Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval indicated that this morning an operation began in the syndicate of Jesús María, municipality of Culiacánderived from six months of reconnaissance and surveillance work in the area of ​​influence of Ovidio Guzmán and his criminal group.

“National Guard personnel with the support of the Mexican Army managed to identify armed personnel aboard several pick-up trucks, some with handmade armor characteristic of criminal organizations. Under this scenario the National Guard It was immediately coordinated with the Ninth Military Zone in Culiacán, the same authority that coordinated with all the corresponding instances. An inter-institutional security operational scheme was established that included different security circles, establishing a perimeter circle on suspicious vehicles in order to proceed according to the right to arrest and review them.

“Once the fence was established, the authorities persuaded the people who were in the vehicles to get out to be searched, moments in which the national guards were subjected to armed aggression. Faced with this situation, a defense plan was established and, having a real and imminent threat, which put their lives at risk, they acted in accordance with the provisions of the National Law on the Use of Force. After controlling the attack on the security forces, Ovidio N was identified among the members of this criminal group, managing to secure him in possession of weapons for the exclusive use of the Army and Armed Forces.

“Moments after the arrest, cells members of his criminal group carried out 19 blockades and armed attacks in different parts of the city of Culiacán, among which the Culiacán Federal International Airport and the Military Air Base Number 10.

“In the same way, all the accesses to the city of Culiacán were blocked, detecting four of them in the access to the city of Mochis and two more in the exit to Costa Rica, Sinaloa.

The detainee was transferred from the point of his detention to Mexico City in aircraft of the Mexican Air Force. Until now, the personnel of the Mexican Army and the National Guard continue to carry out ground reconnaissances and aircraft of the Mexican Air Force carry out aerial reconnaissances to help civil authorities to restore public order and the rule of law, ”he explained.

helicopters fired at ground

Unlike on October 17, 2019, when the Army detained and later released Ovidio Guzmán, the federal government did not release images of the capture of the son of “El Chapo”.

In videos broadcast on social networks, the moment in which from helicopters, soldiers fired at the area where he was located was appreciated. Ovid Guzman and his armed group that protected him. An operation of this nature had not occurred in Mexico since 2017, when elements of the Navy fired bursts from a helicopter and killed Juan Francisco Patrón Sánchez “H2”, leader of the Beltrán Leyva, in Nayarit.

Shot at commercial plane at airport

After the arrest of Ovidio Guzmán, dozens of armed men from the Sinaloa cartel o del Pacífico stole trucks and vehicles, which they later burned and with which they blocked accesses and exits to Culiacán with the purpose of preventing the extraction of their leader.

The hitmen even went to the Culiacan International Airport and Military Air Base Number 10. There they even shot at some military planes and a commercial aircraft that was on the runway about to take off for Mexico City.

The airline Aeromexico confirmed that subjects shot at the Culiacán Airport in the fuselage of an Embraer 190 team that was ready to operate flight AM165 on the Culiacán-Mexico City route, which was canceled for security reasons.

“The plane never started its takeoff run. Following this incident, the company’s protocols were activated and the corresponding authorities were notified, with whom we will coordinate the investigations. Clients and collaborators are safe. Aeroméxico reiterates that the safety of clients and collaborators is and will continue to be its highest priority”, he indicated.

On social networks, a video of people on board the plane was observed, who, upon hearing the shots, began to scream, fell into nervous breakdowns and tried to protect themselves as best they could inside the aircraft.

Shootings, blockades and burning of vehicles

In the city of Culiacán, six hours after the recapture operation, riots continued by hit men under the command of “Los Menores” or “Los Chapitos”. The governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha Moya, asked the inhabitants to take shelter in their homes until the situation was controlled. The shootings, robbery, burning of vehicles and blockades spread to other cities in the state such as Mazatlán, Los Mochis, Navolato, among others.

The US embassy in Mexico raised its travel alert level for the state of Sinaloa to 4 due to the detention of Guzmán López.

stranded on roads

Dozens of motorists and carriers were stranded on some highways that converge to Culiacán, because the members of “Los Menores”, “Los Chapitos” or “La Chapiza”, blocked the booths. The drivers must have taken shelter because various detonations were also heard.

Unlike three years ago, despite their violent actions to try to rescue and prevent the transfer of Ovidio Guzmán, the hitmen of the Sinaloa cartel they could not avoid that their leader is already under the protection of the Mexican authorities awaiting his extradition to the United States, as happened to his father, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

Jorge Monroy
jorge.monroy@eleconomista.mx