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On October 17th, a fierce gun battle took place in Mexican city Culiacan, after security forces arrested Ovidio Guzman, one of the sons of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
He was released shortly after the arrest, after a siege between heavily armed cartel members and security forces inside a house with Guzman.
Mexican security minister Alfonso Durazo said 30 members of the National Guard and army were patrolling in Culiacan when they were fired on from a house. They repelled the attack and inside the house apprehended Ovidio Guzman Lopez.
The house was then surrounded by heavily armed gunmen who had “a greater force” and authorities decided to suspend the operation, Durazo said. Security forces released Ovidio Guzman to protect lives, Durazo said.
Following Ovidio’s initial arrest, local media reported that armed civilians in trucks roared through Culiacan’s center shooting sniper rifles and machine guns. There was a heavy deployment of Mexican security forces.
Videos published on social media showed a scene resembling a war zone, with gunmen, some wearing black ski masks over their faces, riding in the back of trucks firing mounted machine guns as vehicles burned.
Following are videos and images from social media:
More cartel reinforcements heading to #Culiacán, including another up-armoured technical armed with an M2 .50 Cal machine gun.
Many of these technicals appear to have armoured windshields as well. pic.twitter.com/3h8OzHmW4E
— Jimmy (@JimmySecUK) October 18, 2019
https://twitter.com/curiousnats/status/1185025958887202818
Authorities decided to release Ovidio Guzman and stop their operation, since there was a risk of the city turning into an actual war zone.
Another video from #Culiacán, this time a cartel gunman using a high calibre sniper rifle (very possibly a Barrett Browning M82) against Mexican police/armed forces pic.twitter.com/5aRfPil7Sm
— Jimmy (@JimmySecUK) October 17, 2019
Other reports showed that, despite what the Security Minister said, the operation wasn’t exactly routine and the security forces weren’t there by accident – they arrived in full force and heavily armed.
https://twitter.com/MaElenaMorera/status/1185013177291026433
Other cartel members were wounded and arrested, but Guzman himself was released in order to “protect lives.”
https://twitter.com/DavidWolf777/status/1185054001240432640
Secretary of Security of Sinaloa Cristobal Castañeda told El Financiero, adding that local authorities worked with the National Guard, the Army, and the Navy on the operation.
https://twitter.com/JamesLangnesIII/status/1185009298964963334
https://twitter.com/KhaledEibid/status/1185034999193653249
https://twitter.com/JamesLangnesIII/status/1185009298964963334
El Chapo himself was sentenced to life in prison in August 2019. Since he was extradited to the US back in 2017, his sons Ivan Archivaldo Guzman and Jesus Alfredo Guzman, known as “los Chapitos” “the little Chapos” were allegedly running the Sinaloa Cartel, together with co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. Ovidio Guzman wasn’t that known as one of the leaders, but it appeared that he plays a central role in it, judging by the war that ensued.
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