In Mexico, they would have preferred to give up the riots that took place around the arrest operation in the city of Culiacan, but at least it achieved the required effect - and at a symbolic time:
the arrest of Ovidio Guzman, the son of one of the biggest drug lords in history, was completed, and this happened shortly before the visit to Mexico of the President of the United States B, Joe Biden, who is pushing for the country to do more in the fight against drugs.
Mexican Defense Secretary Sandoval (in water) and President Obrador at the press conference on Friday, photo: AFP
Reminder: last Thursday a force of about 200 fighters from the special units arrived in the city of Culiacan in the state of Sinaloa to arrest Ovidio Guzman-Lopez, known as "the mouse".
But the cartel members were not going to give up: they shot at the soldiers, blocked roads, set fire to vehicles and even attacked the local airport.
10 soldiers, one policeman and 19 criminals from the drug cartel were killed in the riots.
Burnt vehicles - a reminder of the battles on Thursday, photo: AFP
Mexico's defense secretary, Luis Crescencio Sandoval, said the operation was carried out after six years of surveillance.
Along with Guzman, 21 other suspects were arrested.
No casualties were reported from those not involved.
1,000 soldiers were sent to the city following the events to maintain security.
Victor Maderano, director of the municipal chamber of commerce, told the AP news agency: "Although there is still fear, people are already returning to the streets."
Back to normal: Citizens shopping at the Walmart branch in Culiacan, yesterday, photo: Reuters
Ovidio Guzmán himself meanwhile was transferred to the Altiplano prison near Mexico City, which is considered to have a maximum security level.
The US demanded his head and even offered up to $5 million for information that would lead to his capture. However, a judge in Mexico City delayed extradition for 60 days. He will remain in preventive detention and during this time additional charges will be examined. By the way, Ovidio's father, Joaquin Guzman, Escaped in 2015 from the aforementioned prison through a tunnel more than 1.5 km long.
Four years after the escape he was arrested in the USA, tried and sentenced to life imprisonment and another 30 years, plus a fine of 12.6 billion dollars.
Guzman Jr. was arrested already in 2019, and even then the cartel members turned to arms.
A 14-year-old boy was killed in the fighting, and following the events and fearing further bloodshed, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador ordered the release of Guzmán.
In Mexico and the United States, a connection was made between the timing of Ovidio's arrest and the visit of Biden, who will arrive tomorrow (Sunday) for the summit of North American leaders in Mexico City. Samuel Gonzalez, who in the nineties founded the special office for dealing with organized crime in the Mexican prosecution, told the AP agency that the arrest It is a gift for Biden's visit, because Obrador "is interested in a quiet visit".
"The capture of Guzmán could be Obrador's way of signaling to Biden that he has the security situation in Mexico under control," Prof. Gladys McCormick of Syracuse University, an expert on US-Mexico relations, told CNN. "He also takes the sting out of any request by The Biden administration to reduce the flow of fentanyl (a drug similar in its effect to heroin and which Sinaloa specializes in producing) and other drugs through the border."
A soldier looks over a burnt truck in Culiacan.
Expert: "The method of attacking leaders does not prove itself", photo: Reuters
The president of Mexico himself rejected the claims that the arrest was made as a tribute to Biden.
"We acted autonomously, we do not share these assessments," he said at the press conference.
Meanwhile, the US has issued a travel warning to its citizens against traveling to Mexico, and its southern neighbor is on alert for the possibility of violence between the cartels. Laura Carlsen, director of the Americas Program at the Center for International Policy, told Deutsche Welle: "Experience shows that after Arrest of leaders The violence is increasing because of the mobilization of the cartels and the increase of internal wars."
In her opinion, regardless of the fights that broke out in his wake, the arrest of Ovidio Guzmán is not too dramatic.
"He is not a senior leader in the Sinaloa cartel, his older brothers have more influence. Therefore, the arrest will not weaken Sinaloa."
She also said that the model of arresting senior officials, which Mexico has been using since 2006, is not effective if there is no damage to infrastructure and consumption within the US at the same time.
Ismael Bohorques, director of a local newspaper in Culiacan, agreed: "Since 2019, Sinaloa and other cartels have only gotten stronger," he told the AP, "They have used these four years to organize, to arm themselves, to strengthen their mechanisms, their cash flow. I believe they have More weapons than before. All the armies of the criminal organizations have become stronger, and this is the price society is paying for the federal government's strategy."
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