Surreal images emerged late this week after Mexico launched a military operation with thousands of soldiers to capture the son of notorious Sinaloa drug cartel leader Joaquín Guzmán Loera, also known as “El Chapo.”
El Chapo’s son, Ovidio Guzmán López, who is reportedly a leader in the cartel, was captured during the massive military operation involving more than 3,500 troops on Thursday, Mexican officials revealed.
The operation was so large in scale because the last time that the Mexican military captured Ovidio Guzmán in 2019 they were forced to let him go after hundreds of heavily armed cartel gunmen threatened to murder families and overrun the soldiers.
Ovidio Guzmán was captured in the Sinaloa city of Culiacán after intense gun battles broke out between the soldiers and the narco-terrorists.
Some videos showed Mexican military helicopters firing M134 miniguns, which can fire up to 6,000 rounds per minute, down onto the cartels during the day and night.
#VIDEO 📹| Desde el aire disparan Fuerzas Armadas en balacera en Jesús Maria, en #Culiacán pic.twitter.com/5chSreJ4gg
— Luis Alberto Díaz y Los Noticieristas (@noticieristas) January 5, 2023
Sinaloa Cartel members preparing to fight. pic.twitter.com/7u0Lfs3aq9
— Mises Caucus (@LPMisesCaucus) January 5, 2023
Narco-terrorists fired .50-caliber machine guns, which are powerful enough to down aircraft and take out light armored vehicles, at Mexican soldiers.
Ten soldiers were killed in addition to 19 members of the cartel, with 35 soldiers sustaining gunshot injuries. Nearly two dozen cartel members were arrested, and numerous .50-caliber weapons were seized, along with dozens of rifles, and more than two dozen armored vehicles.
Aeronaves de la Fuerza Aérea sobrevuelan la Ciudad de Culiacan en Sinaloa pic.twitter.com/OFdCF24dQA
— México Aeroespacial y Defensa (@maeroespacial) January 5, 2023
¡Imágenes impactantes!
Decenas de vehículos con civiles armados circulan por el Blvd. Pedro Infante en #Culiacán#ObservandoEnVivo🔴| @Noticierista pic.twitter.com/BFK6bZep6Y
— Luis Alberto Díaz y Los Noticieristas (@noticieristas) January 5, 2023
Comunidades al sur de #Escuinapa quedaron olvidadas y entre las balas#ObservandoEnVivo🔴| @Noticierista pic.twitter.com/KbXgkRnE2P
— Luis Alberto Díaz y Los Noticieristas (@noticieristas) January 6, 2023
Drone footage of Culiacan. pic.twitter.com/yvhWIGFJYH
— Mises Caucus (@LPMisesCaucus) January 6, 2023
Mexican National Guard fighting. pic.twitter.com/LS78jAATpR
— Mises Caucus (@LPMisesCaucus) January 7, 2023
Shootout at a checkpoint in Culiacan. pic.twitter.com/uHjgFUUgfZ
— Mises Caucus (@LPMisesCaucus) January 7, 2023
“Hay peligro en la calle, no salgan por favor”: llama el gobernador @rochamoya_ a la población a no salir a las calles. Dijo que no hay precisión de qué es lo que está ocurriendo en #Culiacán, porque son operativos del gobierno federal, que se darán a conocer a la brevedad. pic.twitter.com/zZqk7wa7Z3
— Luis Alberto Díaz y Los Noticieristas (@noticieristas) January 5, 2023
Luis Cresencio Sandoval González, the Secretary of Defense, said, “With these actions, the Army, the Air Force, and the National Guard reaffirm the unwavering decision of the federal government to continue acting against organized crime.”
Ovidio Guzmán was arrested after soldiers cornered him and 17 other armed men in a house after the narco-terrorists opened fire on the soldiers from half a dozen armored vehicles.
“A considerable number of criminal cells managed to group together with the intention of rescuing Ovidio N, attacking military personnel,” Sandoval González said.
A helicopter was used to transport Ovidio Guzmán out of the city and to the country’s capital because of the intense fighting on the ground. Two Mexican military aircraft were forced to land after sustaining significant damage.
#VIDEO 📹| Trascienden más detenidos en Jesús María, en #Culiacán; la balacera no ha parado en 7 horas pic.twitter.com/JYxxS9aHUv
— Luis Alberto Díaz y Los Noticieristas (@noticieristas) January 5, 2023
Ovidio Guzmán faces criminal charges in the U.S. and Mexico for drug trafficking.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced charges against both Ovidio Guzmán, 31, and Joaquín Guzmán López, 37, who are both El Chapo’s sons, in 2019.
They were both charged “in a one-count indictment alleging that from in or around April 2008, through April 2018, they conspired to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana from Mexico and elsewhere for importation into the United States,” the DOJ said.
