Hundreds march for freedom of powerful Mexican drug cartel

CULIACAN (AP):

Not everyone is happy over the capture of drug lord Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzman.

Hundreds of people marched on the streets of this western Mexico city on Wednesday, demanding that Mexican authorities free the boss of the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel. Many said he provides needed jobs in poor mountain areas.

Norteno musicians played trumpets while high-school students in uniforms held up signs reading "We want Chapo free" and "We Love Chapo" as they paraded in Culiacan, capital of Sinaloa state, which is the cartel's bastion.

Demonstrators also said they opposed any attempt to extradite Guzman to the US, where he faces several drug-trafficking charges in different states.

SOME TAKEN INTO CUSTODY

Police officers tried to scatter the protest, and a few of the demonstrators began throwing water bottles at them as the march broke up. Officers responded with tear gas and took some protesters into custody.

"We support Chapo Guzman because he is the one who gives us jobs and helps out in the mountains," said Pedro Ramirez, who said he travelled in a group of 300 from Badiraguato, a town in the Sierra Madre where Guzman was born poor 56 years ago.

It was a rare display even in a country where drug lords inspire folk songs and books and are looked up to by young men in rural areas. In December 2010, about 100 people marched through the state capital of Michoacan to show support for the chief of La Familia cartel, who had just been killed during two days of battles with federal police.