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Violence hits Mexico cartel stronghold as ‘El Chapo’ son nabbed

Published:Friday | January 6, 2023 | 8:42 AM
An army convoy patrols the streets of Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Thursday, January 5, 2023. Mexican security forces captured Ovidio Guzmán, an alleged drug trafficker wanted by the United States and one of the sons of former Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, in a pre-dawn operation Thursday that set off gunfights and roadblocks across the western state’s capital. (AP Photo/Martin Urista)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The sun wasn't yet up in Culiacan when David Téllez and his family began making their way to the city's airport for a return flight to Mexico City after their vacation. But not long after they set out they encountered the first crude roadblock, an abandoned vehicle obstructing their way.

Téllez turned to social media to find out what was going on and saw that Sinaloa's state capital, a stronghold of the cartel by the same name, was filled with roadblocks and gunfire.

It would be hours before Mexico's defence secretary would confirm that the military had captured Ovidio Guzmán, a son of the notorious former Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, on Thursday in a pre-dawn operation north of the city.

Just like that, Culiacan was thrust into a day of terror unlike any its residents had experienced since October 2019 — the last time authorities tried to capture the young Guzmán.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has railed against his predecessors' aggressive efforts to capture drug lords, but his administration bagged the high-profile cartel figure just days before hosting US President Joe Biden, and at least in the short term locals were paying the price.

Culiacan residents posted video on social media showing convoys of gunmen in pickup trucks and SUVs rolling down boulevards in the city.

At least one convoy included a flatbed truck with a mounted gun in the back, the same kind of vehicle that caused chaos and mayhem in the 2019 unrest.

All entrances to the city were blocked and similar acts were playing out in other parts of Sinaloa.

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