Mexican security forces on Thursday arrested the son of jailed drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, scoring a victory in the battle against powerful cartels days before US President Joe Biden visits.
Ovidio Guzman, who was arrested in the northwestern city of Culiacan, is accused of leading a faction of his father’s notorious Sinaloa cartel, Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval told reporters.
The 32-year-old, nicknamed “El Raton” (The Rat), allegedly helped run his father’s drug-trafficking operation since El Chapo was extradited to the United States in 2017.
The United States has offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest of Ovidio Guzman, pointing to him as a key player in the Sinaloa cartel.
The arrests – which resulted in guns and cars being set on fire in Culiacan – come as Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador prepares to welcome Biden next week for a summit of North American leaders where security is expected to be high on the agenda.
“El Chapo” was sentenced to life in prison in the United States for selling hundreds of tons of drugs to the US for 25 years.
However, his cartel remains one of the most powerful in Mexico.
Ovidio Guzman and one of his brothers are accused of overseeing nearly a dozen methamphetamine laboratories in Sinaloa as well as conspiring to distribute cocaine and marijuana, according to the US State Department.
He is also accused of ordering the killing of an informant, a drug dealer and a Mexican singer who refused to sing at his wedding, he said.
Previous arrest failure
Ovidio Guzman was briefly arrested earlier in 2019, but security forces released him after his cartel went on an all-out war.
Several people were killed in the event in the capital of Sinaloa state, Culiacan, when gunmen launched a massive machine gun attack, leaving streets littered with burning vehicles.
The release drew sharp criticism from Lopez Obrador, who said the decision was made to protect civilian lives.
The Sinaloa state government urged people to stay at home on Thursday after the latest arrests.
Lopez Obrador has struggled to curb the brutal violence that has plagued Mexico since taking office in 2018.
He championed a “hugs not bullets” strategy to tackle violent crime at the root by fighting poverty and inequality with social programs, rather than the army.
Left-wing populists have asked the United States to invest in regional economic development instead of sending helicopter gunships and other weapons to shoot at drug traffickers.
Mexico has registered more than 340,000 murders since the government controversially deployed the army to fight drug cartels in 2006, largely blamed on criminal gangs.
On Sunday, cartel gunmen stormed a prison in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, killing nearly 20 people and allowing 25 inmates to escape.
The next day, seven people were killed during a police operation to recapture the prisoner.
Those who escaped included Ernesto Alfredo Pinon, known as “El Neto,” a gang leader allied with the Juarez drug cartel.
Pinon, who was sentenced to more than 200 years in prison in 2010 for kidnapping and murder, was killed Thursday in a shootout with security forces, authorities said.