Mexico captures son of notorious drug kingpin ‘El Chapo’, sparking wave of violence
- Mexico scores a high-profile win in the fight against cartels days before US President Joe Biden visits
- Violence hits Mexican drug cartel stronghold of Culiacan where the arrest of Ovidio Guzman took place
Mexican security forces captured drug cartel leader Ovidio Guzman, a son of jailed kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, triggering a wave of violence ahead of a visit by US President Joe Biden next week.
The violence on Thursday took place largely in the city of Culiacan in the northern Sinaloa state, home to the powerful drug cartel of the same name that El Chapo headed before his extradition to the United States in 2017.
State governor Ruben Rocha said seven members of the security forces had been killed, including a colonel, and 21 had been injured as well as eight civilians.
Rocha said there had been 12 clashes with the security forces, 25 acts of looting, and 250 vehicles had been set on fire and used to block roads.
“Tomorrow we think we will be able to work normally,” he said, adding that he had not discussed calling more reinforcements from the army or the National Guard.
A failed operation to detain Ovidio in 2019 ended in humiliation for the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, after the arrest triggered a wave of violence that forced authorities to shutter Culiacan’s schools and airports.