Authorities in Mexico captured Ovidio Guzmán López, 32, an alleged cartel leader and the son of convicted cartel drug kingpin Joaquín Archivaldo “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, in a military operation.
Mexican Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval announced the arrest in a press conference on Thursday. Sandoval said members of the Mexican Army and National Guard and Mexican security officials carried out the arrest to capture Guzmán López in an operation near the city of Culiacán.
Guzmán López is an alleged high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel, leading a faction known as “Los Menores” or “Los Chapitos.”
Following the arrest, Sandoval said authorities transported Guzmán López from Culiacán to Mexico City.
As news of Guzmán López’s arrest began to circulate, Sandoval said cartel forces began to mobilize throughout Culiacán. Sandoval said the cartel forces set up 19 blockades around the city. The Washington Post also shared reports of gunfire and cars set on fire throughout the city. Gunmen also reportedly fired at a National Guard jet parked at the city’s airport.
About 900 Mexican Army and National Guard troops and state police entered Culiacán to support Guzmán López’s arrest, the Washington Post reported.
The Mexican news agency Reforma reported one policeman died and six other security personnel were injured while supporting the high-profile arrest operation.
Amid the reports of heavy fighting throughout Culiacán, authorities advised residents of the city to remain indoors.
“We continue to work on controlling the situation,” said Cristobal Castaneda, Sinaloa’s public security chief.
“We ask the citizens of Culiacan not to leave home due to the blockades that have occurred in different parts of the city,” Culiacan Mayor Juan de Dios Gamez said.
Arrest Comes After Guzmán López Was Freed in 2019
The reports of violence throughout Culiacán echo the violence seen after Guzmán López was arrested three years earlier in 2019.
Guzmán López was briefly detained in October 2019, but the arrest drew a response from heavily armed cartel fighters and Guzmán López was ultimately able to escape custody.
During the 2019 arrest, Mexican authorities clashed with cartel forces throughout Culiacán, exchanging gunfire in broad daylight. Vehicles were also set on fire and one gas station was set ablaze.
During the fighting, Mexican authorities who had Guzmán López in custody also came under fire. Outgunned, the authorities elected to let the alleged cartel leader free and withdraw.
“The decision was taken to retreat from the house, without Guzmán, to try to avoid more violence in the area and preserve the lives of our personnel and recover calm in the city,” Security Minister Alfonso Durazo said at the time of the 2019 arrest.
Tomas Guevara, a security expert at the Autonomous University of Sinaloa, said the latest arrest “is finally the culmination of something that was planned three years ago.”
Guzmán López’s latest arrest comes ahead of a North American leaders’ summit in Mexico City next week, which U.S. President Joe Biden will attend and at which security issues are on the agenda.
One of the Mexican officials said Guzman López’s arrest was likely to prove a welcome addition to U.S.-Mexico cooperation on security ahead of Biden’s visit.
The United States had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Guzmán López.
It is not yet clear if Guzmán López will be extradited to the United States like his father, who is serving a life sentence at Colorado’s Supermax, the most secure U.S. federal prison.
Reuters contributed to this article.