A minimum of 29 killed in Mexico seize of Chapo’s son; U.S. extradition not assured By Reuters

By Isabel Woodford and Valentine Hilaire

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Nineteen suspected gang members and 10 navy personnel had been killed in a wave of violence surrounding the arrest of Mexican drug cartel boss Ovidio Guzman within the northern state of Sinaloa, Protection Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval stated on Friday.

Mexican safety forces captured Guzman, the 32-year-old son of jailed kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, within the early hours of Thursday morning, prompting hours of unrest and shootouts with gang members, the minister stated.

Guzman was extracted by helicopter from the home the place he was caught and flown to Mexico Metropolis, earlier than being taken to a most safety federal jail, Sandoval added.

The arrest spurred the highly effective Sinaloa Cartel – as soon as headed by El Chapo himself – to go on a rampage, setting autos on fireplace, blocking roads, and preventing safety forces in and round Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa.

Twenty-one different folks had been arrested throughout Thursday’s operations, Sandoval informed a information convention, including there have been no studies of any civilian deaths.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador stated there have been no rapid plans to extradite Ovidio to the USA, the place his father is in a most safety jail after being extradited in 2017 and located responsible in a New York courtroom.

“The weather (of the case) should be introduced and the judges in Mexico determine,” the president stated. “It’s a course of…It’s not simply the request.” No U.S forces had assisted in Ovidio’s seize, Lopez Obrador stated.

An enhanced safety presence will now stay in place in Sinaloa, on Mexico’s Pacific coast, to guard the general public, with an extra 1,000 navy personnel touring to the area at this time, Sandoval stated.

Passengers on an Aeromexico passenger flight at Culiacan airport crouched low beneath their seats as photographs rung out across the runway on Thursday.

“As we had been accelerating for take-off, we heard gunshots very near the airplane, and that is once we all threw ourselves to the ground,” passenger David Tellez stated. Aeromexico stated certainly one of its airplane was hit by gunfire at Culiacan however that no-one was damage.

The airport was attributable to reopen in a while Friday after being closed because of the violence.

In 2019, a failed operation to arrest Ovidio resulted in humiliation for Lopez Obrador’s authorities. On the time, safety forces briefly detained Ovidio, triggering a violent backlash from cartel loyalists and main authorities to shortly launch him to stave off the specter of additional retribution from his henchmen.

His newest seize comes earlier than a North American leaders’ summit in Mexico Metropolis subsequent week, which U.S. President Joe Biden will attend. Cooperation over safety is because of be on the agenda.

THE EXTRADITION QUESTION

The US has sought Guzman’s extradition for years.

In 2021, the State Division introduced a $5 million reward for data resulting in his arrest and conviction.

Guzman, recognized by the nickname “The Mouse,” has been charged in the USA with conspiracy to visitors cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana into the USA. The State Division stated he oversaw methamphetamine labs in Sinaloa liable for producing “3,000 to five,000 kilos” of the drug monthly.

The State Division additionally stated data indicated he had ordered a number of murders, together with that of a well-liked Mexican singer who had refused to carry out at his marriage ceremony.

Surging flows of the artificial opioid fentanyl into the USA, the place it has fueled file overdose deaths, have heightened strain to seize Guzman.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration considers the Sinaloa Cartel, together with one different gang, to be liable for a lot of the fentanyl contained in the United Sates.