MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR BOUNTY
The United States had issued a reward of up to US$5 million for information leading to Ovidio Guzman’s capture. It accuses him of being a key player in the Sinaloa cartel founded by his father.
The arrest came as Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador prepared to welcome his US counterpart Joe Biden for a North America leaders’ summit next week where security is expected to be high on the agenda.
The drug trafficker’s detention was “not an insignificant accomplishment by Mexican authorities”, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
“And we’re certainly grateful for that,” he said, adding that the United States would keep working “in lockstep” with Mexico, notably to tackle trafficking of the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl.
Mexico denied that the United States had been involved in the operation to catch Ovidio Guzman.
“We act autonomously, independently. Yes there is cooperation and there will continue to be, but we make the decisions as a sovereign government,” Lopez Obrador told reporters.
Ovidio Guzman secured a court order blocking his immediate extradition to the United States.
In any case, Mexico’s government ruled out a fast-track extradition, saying the proper legal process would be followed.
COCAINE, METH AND FENTANYL
Authorities said calm had returned to Culiacan, where security forces removed dozens of stolen and burnt out vehicles scattered throughout the city of 800,000 people.
Videos on social media Thursday had shown passengers and Aeromexico airline employees ducking behind counters as gunfire rang out at Culiacan airport.
Cartel gunmen set cars and trucks ablaze at several intersections in the city, and authorities reported 19 roadblocks.
El Chapo is serving a life sentence in the United States for trafficking hundreds of tons of drugs into the country over the course of 25 years.
However, his cartel remains one of the most powerful in Mexico, accused by Washington of exploiting an opioid epidemic by flooding communities in the United States with fentanyl, a synthetic drug about 50 times more potent than heroin.
Ovidio Guzman and one of his brothers are accused of overseeing nearly a dozen methamphetamine labs in Sinaloa as well as conspiring to distribute cocaine and marijuana, according to the US State Department.
Ovidio Guzman also allegedly ordered the murders of informants, a drug trafficker and a Mexican singer who refused to perform at his wedding, it said.
He was captured briefly once before in 2019, but security forces freed him after his cartel waged an all-out war in response.
His release prompted sharp criticism of Lopez Obrador, who said the decision was made to protect civilians’ lives.
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