Police operation to arrest Ovid Guzmanson of the prisoner drug dealer Joaquin ‘El Chapo‘ Guzmán, ended this Thursday with the death of up to 29 people, including ten soldiers, as confirmed this Friday by the Government of Mexico. Among the deceased, 19 of them were “lawbreakers”, members of organized crime who tried to prevent by using the weapons the recapture of the criminal, one of the most wanted men by USA.
The Mexican President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obradorhas denied that Washington is involved in the capture of Guzmán and that this has something to do with the visit of the US president Joe Biden to the country on the occasion of the North American Leaders Summit. “We act autonomously, independently, there is cooperation and there will continue to be, but we make the decisions as a sovereign, independent government, and we make these decisions in the security cabinet,” the president assured this Friday.
The son of ‘El Chapo’ was arrested at dawn last Thursday in Culiacán, in the northwest of the state of sinaloa. The police operation degenerated into a campaign battle throughout the city that ended up with multiple victims, although no members of civil society. Another 21 people were arrested in the course of the violent operation, as reported this Friday by the Secretary General of Defense, Luis Cresencio Sandoval Gonzalezin a press conference.
extradition to USA
The Mexican Government has recognized that there is a request for extradition in USA, which in December 2021 offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his capture. Washington accuses him of crimes related to the conspiracy to export and sell drugs on US territory.
However, López Obrador has also warned that the wanted criminal will not be extradited in a hasty manner. “(Extradition) is a process. The request is made by the government, in this case from the US, but the evidence must be presented and the judges in Mexico decide,” the president remarked.
The Mexican Executive has pointed out that it has elements to take Ovidio Guzmán to court for crimes against Health (drug trafficking) and related to Firearms. The head of the Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), Rosa Icela Rodríguez, said that there are also investigations regarding the possibility that the detainee and other people had committed crimes related to the organized crime.
Arsenal seized
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Guzmán, also known as “El Ratón”, is the alleged leader of the criminal faction Los Menores, affiliated with the Sinaloa cartel. After his arrest, he was transferred during the day on Thursday to the Mexican capital and later entered the Federal Center for Social Readaptation number 1 Altiplano. Also known as the Almoloya prison, this prison located in the State of Mexico is the same one where his father was held and from which he escaped in 2015.
In the announced operation, the police forces seized a real arsenal with four Barrett 50 caliber sniper rifles and six other machine guns of the same caliber, 26 weapons and 13 vehicles, magazines, cartridges and tactical equipment. Another forty vans were disabled, 26 of them armored. “The Mexican State will offer all its support to the families of the deceased”, guaranteed Secretary Sandoval, who thanked the military for carrying out a new feat against the organized gangs of drug dealers that have been operating in the country for decades.