The operation to detain Ovidio Guzman, the son of imprisoned drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, unleashed a running firefight in the northern city of Culiacan that killed 10 military personnel and 19 suspected members of the Sinaloa drug cartel.
Defence Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval described a battle that resembled a war: cartel gunmen opened fire on troops with machine guns, and the army responded by calling in Blackhawk helicopter gunships to attack a convoy of 25 cartel vehicles, including truck-mounted cartel gun platforms.
The cartel then opened fire on the military aircraft, forcing two of them down with “a significant number of impacts” in each of the two aircraft, Mr Sandoval said.
The gang then sent hordes of gunmen to attack fixed-wing aircraft, both military and civilian, at the city’s international airport.
One civilian aircraft was hit; the gunmen also shot up airport buildings in a bid to prevent authorities from flying the captured cartel boss out of the city.
But Mr Sandoval said that, anticipating the resistance, authorities had immediately loaded Ovidio Guzman onto a military helicopter to fly him directly back to Mexico City.
Culiacan residents posted video on social media showing convoys of gunmen in pick-up trucks and SUVs rolling through the city on Thursday. At least one convoy included a flatbed truck with a mounted gun in the back.
All entrances to the city were blocked and similar acts played out in other parts of Sinaloa.
Rev Esteban Robles, spokesman for the Roman Catholic diocese in Culiacan, said that “there is an atmosphere of uncertainty, tension,” and that those who could were staying inside their homes.
“A lot of the streets are still blocked by the cars that were burned,” Mr Robles said.
The Culiacan municipal government warned: “Don’t leave home. The safety of Culiacan’s citizens is the most important.” Schools, local government and many private businesses closed.
Juan Carlos Ayala, a Culiacan resident and Sinaloa University professor who studies the sociology of drug trafficking, said Ovidio Guzman was an obvious target at least since 2019.
“Ovidio’s fate had been decided. Moreover, he was identified as the biggest trafficker of fentanyl and the most visible Chapos leader.”
Asked how locals were reacting to the arrest, Mr Ayala said “People have differing views, but I think the majority are with them” — the Sinaloa cartel.
That may be because of the money the cartel brings to the region, but also because locals know that even after federal troops withdraw, the cartel will still be there. As bad as it is, the cartel has ensured relative stability, if not peace.
Guzman was indicted by the United States on drug trafficking charges in 2018. According to both governments, he had assumed a growing role among his brothers in carrying on their father’s business, along with long-time cartel boss Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard confirmed that the government had received a request in 2019 from the United States for Guzman’s arrest for purposes of extradition.
He said that request would have to be updated and processed, but he added that first an open case in Mexico awaits Guzman.
