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(CNN Spanish) - The Government of Mexico revealed on Wednesday new details of the failed operation in Culiacán giving the official version of the facts and the reasons why Ovidio Guzmán López, son of Chapo Guzmán, was released.
"We want peace and peace as I have said many times it is the result of justice, it is a new strategy, it is, here, a new security paradigm," said the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, after affirm that the war on drug trafficking is over.
Alfonso Durazo Montaño, Secretary of Security and Protection, said that the Government had never faced criticism as strong as with the Culiacan issue.
A bloody and prolonged shooting between Mexican security forces and suspected cartel members in the state of Sinaloa on October 17 was an attempt to capture a son of jailed drug trafficker Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman for extradition to the United States, but The operation failed.
The troops temporarily detained Ovid Guzman Lopez during the operation on Thursday, October 17 in the city of Culiacán, authorities said. But as the battle went on, he was released and the operation was suspended to save lives, said the secretary of defense and the country's security minister at the time. Seven people died: five “aggressors,” a member of the National Guard of Mexico and a civilian, Durazo said.
López Obrador acknowledged the following day that the operation "to protect people's lives" was suspended.
“Those violent events were prompted by a precipitous action. It should be recognized with all honesty, ”said Alfonso Durazo, Secretary of Security.
"Without wanting to justify, there is always a chance that an operation of this nature will go wrong, despite the experience of those who carried it out, as is the case of Culiacán," he added.
Videos of the operation were shown at the extensive press conference, including when Guzmán López is held, and the violent clashes.
This was the operation, according to the version delivered that Wednesday by the Mexican authorities:
Ovid Guzmán is requested in extradition
On April 2, a US federal court arrest warrant for drug distribution crimes
On September 13, the U.S. Government Mexico requests the provisional detention order for extradition purposes
On September 25 a judge in the State of Mexico issues the arrest warrant for Guzmán López
The operation
On October 17, he will be remembered in Mexico for the violent and bloody shooting in Culiacán. It all started at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time in Mexico City:
13:00 - In Mexico City, members of the National Guard present an investigation report to the Prosecutor to support the search warrant. Sedena is preparing for the operation in Culiacán.
14:00 - Ovidio Guzmán López arrives at the address in Culiacán
14:30 - The operation begins. The place where Guzman is surrounded is surrounded. El Chapo's son was with his family.
14:50 - The aggressions towards the security forces begin. The search warrant that was being processed in Mexico City was no longer necessary.
15:45 - The Security Cabinet informs the president of the activities carried out in Culiacán.
15:47 - Vehicles with armed people, in a hostile attitude, gather around where the personnel in the surveillance house were
15:50 - Vehicles with armed people surround military bases in Culiacán and retain military personnel
17:04 - Attacks are recorded in different parts of the city. There are burns of vehicles and a massive escape of prisoners from the Aguaruto prison
18:49 - By the decision taken by the Security Cabinet, it is determined to withdraw the force from where the operation was being carried out
19:17 - The criminal structure frees an officer and four soldiers who were held in the Costa Rica booth
18:45 - The president moves to Oxaca
19:30 - The first message is given with the information that the Security Cabinet had about what was happening
and then he leaves for Culiacán to have a complete panorama
20:15 - The president arrives in Oaxaca
Chapo Guzmán