El Chapo's Son & Capo Of Mexico's Biggest Drug Cartel Captured, Revenge And Violence Spreading In Sinaloa

Ovidio Guzmán, head of the Sinaloa cartel and son of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán, was arrested in a raid undertaken by Mexican authorities on Thursday.

The morning incursion into Culiacán, reported local authorities, was marked by shootings, blockades and looting around Sinaloa. Battles between armed groups, the cartel and the Mexican Army, which used helicopter gunships, continue. 

The violence then spread to the Culiacán airport, where suspected cartel members shot at military planes arriving from Mexico City with federal reinforcements.  

As security forces arrested Guzmán, other government agencies attempted to contain violence in the area, which is controlled by the Sinaloa cartel. 

Mexican officials, reported Mexican daily Milenio, closed the airport in Culiacán and urged people to stay indoors. Schools and government offices have closed due to the ongoing violence.

"We ask the citizens of Culiacán not to leave home due to the blockades that have occurred in different parts of the city," Culiacán Mayor Juan de Dios Gamez wrote on Twitter.

Who Is Olvidio Guzmán?

Ovidio became capo of the Sinaloa Cartel, the biggest drug movers in Mexico, after his father’s arrest and long prison sentence in Colorado’s Supermax prison. El Chapo was known for repeatedly escaping from Mexican prisons.  

Guzmán the younger, known as El Ratón (the mouse) was briefly detained in October 2019 in Mexico but quickly released him to avoid violent retribution from the cartel. Not so this time as violence flares in Sinaloa, the cartel's stonghold.

Unverified videos on social media showed heavy gunfire, including from helicopters during the night. Street blockades were also erected.

Video released by Radio Fórmula of shootings at Culiacán's airport in Sinaloa.

#VIDEO | Balacean a uno de los aviones militares que llegaron a Culiacán, Sinaloa.

🎥: Especial pic.twitter.com/zyMmTCaskw

— Grupo Fórmula (@Radio_Formula) January 5, 2023

The Sinaloa cartel has been trying to corner the legal weed market in Mexico and continues its attempt to smuggle cannabis into the U.S. despite already booming cultivation operations in various legal states.

"Mexican marijuana has largely been supplanted by domestic-produced marijuana" in US markets, according to a 2020 DEA National Drug Threat Assessment.

Photo: Culiacán, courtesy of Wikipedia