Ovid’s capture will not affect organized crime

This is how I titled a tweet that I posted yesterday and which was accompanied by a video recorded by a passenger on board Aeroméxico flight 165, which was due to take off from the Culiacán airport to Mexico City at 11:27 a.m. The Embraer 190 never took off because likely members of the Pacific Cartel, led by the sons of Joaquín el Chapo Guzmán, entered the airport and fired at the plane.

In the video, people are seen lying on the ground, far from the windows to avoid being hit by a bullet; the screams of terror are heard from adults and children who never imagined that they would live such a terrifying experience.

The criminals not only attacked the Embraer, they also fired at a Boeing 727 of the Mexican Air Force when it had just landed in Culiacán and which was carrying a contingent of soldiers.

In various parts of the Sinaloan capital, criminals fired shots, blocked streets and set vehicles on fire.

That is why the authorities suspended classes and asked people not to leave their homes. Various bus and airline lines such as Aeroméxico, Viva Aerobús and Volaris canceled their service to or from Culiacán.

What was experienced yesterday in Culiacán and in other areas of Sinaloa was the reaction of the members of Los Chapitos or Los Menores, a faction of the Pacific or Sinaloa Cartel, after learning that hours before, at dawn, he was captured by government forces Ovidio the Mouse Guzmán López, son of El Chapo, who together with his brothers Iván Archivaldo and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar until yesterday was one of the leaders of the cartel.

The capture of the 32-year-old criminal occurred almost 39 months after he was arrested, also in Culiacán, on October 17, 2019, and released hours later on the orders of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in order to prevent the criminals of the cartel, who had seized the streets of the city and the residential area of ​​the military, killed civilians and the wives and children of the soldiers, as they threatened to do if Ovid was not released.

El Chapo’s son was taken yesterday to Mexico City and presented to the Specialized Prosecutor for Organized Crime of the FGR to be made available to the Federal Public Ministry. He is likely to be extradited to the United States.

The Secretary of National Defense, Luis Cresencio Sandoval, reported that the capture was the result of six months of investigations carried out by the Sedena, GN, CNI and Sinaloan authorities. He also said that Ovidio’s apprehension is “a resounding blow to the Pacific Cartel.”

But how forceful? I remember that the federal authorities have assured the same every time they have captured or killed an important drug trafficker, regardless of the cartel, without ultimately weakening organized crime. Rather the opposite has occurred: the capture or death of a criminal leader has generally led to more violence and deaths as other criminals contest the vacant leadership.

Good thing they captured Ovid! Congratulations to those who caught it! Too bad his apprehension will not make a dent in the organized crime that damages the country so much.

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