The police operation ended with various fires, blockades and attacks in the Culiacán area
The Mexican authorities captured this Thursday Ovid Guzmanone of the sons of Joaquín “el Chapo” Guzmán most wanted by the US, during an operation that unleashed fires, blockades and attacks in Culiacán, northern Mexico, according to federal government sources reported to the media.
The arrest of Guzmán, one of the leaders of the Sinaloa carteloccurs days before the arrival of US President Joe Biden, who will visit Mexico on Monday for the North American Leaders Summit.
The capture and the violence that unleashed the arrest aroused fear in the public due to the memories of the controversial “culiacanazo“, an operation in which federal forces arrested Ovidio on October 17, 2019, but released him hours later for violent acts by the Sinaloa Cartel.
The arrest of Guzmán generated blockades in different roads of culiacancapital of sinaloain addition to clashes in different parts of the city, as well as vehicles set on fire and reports of vehicle spoils to civilians, from around 04:30 local time (10:30 GMT), which paralyzed the city.
They ask the population to protect themselves
After the facts, Cristobal Castañeda CamarilloSecretary of Public Security in Sinaloa, asked the population to remain in their homes to safeguard their integrity.
“Different blockades are occurring in the city. Right now the invitation to citizenship is that if you have nothing to go out to, don’t go out& rdquor ;, said the official in an interview with the media.
Besides, the Secretary of Public Education State suspended school activities, as did the Government of Sinaloa, which asked its staff to remain in their homes in the face of violent events.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico alerted US citizens about the events in Sinaloa and asked to avoid traveling to the area.
“There are reports of shootings in various parts of the state including Culiacán, Los Mochis and Guasave. Monitor news. The Consulate reminds you that the Bureau of Consular Affairs classifies Sinaloa as level 4 “Do Not Travel & rdquor; & rdquor ;”, he specified.
Ruben Rocha, Governor of Sinaloa, confirmed through his Twitter account that since early Thursday morning the Armed Forces implemented an operation, and asked the public to remain calm and let the authorities finish their tasks.
“Given the events that are taking place in Culiacán, I ask the citizens Stay calm and take shelter in your homes. The authorities are carrying out their task and we will keep you informed,” he wrote.
Dropper information
When questioned during his morning conference this Thursday, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador asked reporters to wait.
“Wait,” he said. “We still do not know how the events are in Sinaloa, there is an operation that began at dawn and we will inform you about it later. This is reported later so that the precise information is available, we do not get ahead of ourselves & rdquor ;, he added later.
The president also reported that the Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, Rosa Icela Rodriguez will offer a press conference to give details about what happened in Sinaloa.
Ovidio Guzmán López, “El Ratón”, with his brother Joaquin Guzman Lopezis charged in the United States on criminal association charges related to illicit drugs.
According to US authorities, the brothers teamed up to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana in the United States from Mexico and other parts of the world from 2008 to 2018.