Status: 06.01.2023 5:23 p.m
Gang members and security forces in Mexico fought fierce battles for hours. According to the defense minister, 29 people died. The trigger was the arrest of an “El Chapo” son.
29 people have died in fighting between gang members and security forces in Mexico. Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval said 19 suspected criminals and 10 soldiers were killed during the raid and hours of shooting. The arrest of Ovidio Guzmán, a son of the imprisoned drug lord “El Chapo”, sparked the fighting.
Guzmán was arrested on Thursday in Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Mexico. Gang members then blocked numerous roads with burning cars and fought with police and armed forces.
Shots at the airport
Among other things, they fired at incoming military aircraft at the airport, as Defense Minister Sandoval said. Soldiers, in turn, shot suspects on the ground from helicopters, as reported by the dpa news agency. Around 4,500 soldiers were deployed to the region to bring the situation under control. According to the Ministry of Defence, these included special forces and paratroopers.
In view of the clashes, Governor Rubén Rocha Moya called on people in Sinaloa to stay in their homes. Schools, public buildings and the Culiacan airport have been closed. The US Embassy in Mexico had advised against traveling to Sinaloa.
Ovidio Guzmán was sent to a maximum security prison in Mexico City. The 32-year-old is the son of the former boss of the Sinaloa cartel “El Chapo”, one of the most powerful drug dealers in the world. “El Chapo” is serving a life sentence in the United States. After his father was arrested, Ovidio Guzmán took over part of the business with his brothers and was considered one of the most important dealers in the drug fentanyl in the Latin American country.
Fight in Mexico after arrest of famous drug lord
Christina Fee Moebus, ARD Mexico, 6.1.2023 5:53 a.m