Shootout(s) in Culiacan, Sinaloa; reporting capture of Ivan Archivaldo Guzman
Molly Molloy
Se desata violencia en Culiacán por supuesta detención del hijo de "El Chapo"; reportan balaceras en diferentes puntos de la ciudad
La tarde de este jueves 17 de octubre tuvo lugar una fuerte agresión armada en calles de Culiacán, presuntamente para tratar de liberar a un hijo de Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán que habría sido detenido por las autoridades.
La balacera habría ocurrido en el sector de Tres Ríos, medios locales señalan que se registró una fuerte movilización policiaca en la que estuvieron involucrados elementos de la Sedena así como policías municipales.
De manera extraoficial se reporta que los sicarios tienen sitiada la capital de Sinaloa debido a que exigen la liberación de Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, 'El Chapito', pues de lo contrario, amenazan con ejecutar a civiles.
Una de las balaceras se desató en el Malecón Nuevo y la Obregón, mientras que los civiles corrian cruzando el puente hacia el centro en busca de resuardo.
De acuerdo con la versión de tránsitos, todo empezó en el puente Miguel Hidalgo.
A través de redes sociales usuarios han compartido imágenes y videos de sonidos de armas de fuego o de hombres con armas de alto calibre. Algunos vieron una camioneta con varios sujetos armados moverse en varios puntos de la ciudad.
Recomiendan permanecer en un lugar cerrado y seguro.
Molly Molloy
In Culiacán, masked men exchange gunfire with security forces and erect burning barricades as armed trucks patrol
Jo Tuckman in Mexico City
Intense fighting has erupted in the Mexican city of Culiacán, where masked gunmen threw up burning barricades and traded gunfire with security forces after the arrest of one of the sons of the jailed former leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
Images shared on social media showed trucks with mounted heavy machine guns patrolling the city streets. Another clip showed a gunman with an assault rifle shooting at an unknown target against a soundtrack of continuous gunfire.
Durazo said the arrest took place during a routine patrol of federal forces that came under fire from a house. He said after taking control of the situation they arrested four people, including Chapo’s son.
Durazo also said this prompted groups of criminals to attack the patrols and carry out violent acts around the city. He said these were so serious that in order to safeguard the citizens of Culiacán, the authorities decided to “suspend our actions”. This led to confusion as to whether the young Guzmán was let go.
At the same time, photographs circulated on social media purporting to show Ovidio in detention in a light blue shirt, with what appeared to be religious medallions around his neck.
Thursday’s shootouts initially prompted rumours that they were triggered by the arrest of Iván Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, another of Chapo’s sons. It’s unclear if he was detained.
The 28-year-old Ovidio Guzmán López is one of four children from Chapo’s second marriage. He is named together with his elder brother, Joaquín Guzmán López, in an indictment related to cocaine trafficking released by the US Department of Justice in February this year.
Chapo Guzmán had two other wives and at least six more children.
The murder of 22-year-old Edgar Guzmán López in a Culiacan parking lot May 2008 sparked a major turf war between Chapo and his former allies from the Beltrán Leyva cartel that raged for years.
The Sinaloa public security secretary, Cristóbal Castañeda, told Milenio TV that as well as roving shootouts and barricades, the chaos included a mass jailbreak of between 20 and 30 inmates.
“We are inviting people to get off the streets until we have re-established control of the city,” he said.
Guzmán, whose cartel was once billed as the most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world, was sentenced to life in prison by a US federal court in January.
Over the course of decades in the business, the 62-year-old had been arrested three times – twice in Mexico and once in Guatemala – and managed to make two spectacular escapes from high-security Mexican jails.
Chapo’s second arrest in 2014 took place in the port city of Mazatlán without a shot being fired. He was in the company of his third wife and their two baby daughters at the time.
Both sons were reportedly kidnapped in August of that year from a swanky restaurant in the Pacific resort city of Puerto Vallarta by the Sinaloa cartel’s then up and coming rival the New Generation Jalisco Cartel. Officials only ever confirmed the abduction and release a week later of Jesús Alfredo.
Molly Molloy
CONFIRMED: El Chapo’s Son Captured Amid Gun Fights and Chaos in Sinaloa, Mexico
At least one of the Sinaloa cartel leader’s sons is in Mexican custody amid gun battles on the streets of Culiacán.
This is a developing story, please check back for updates.
The city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, erupted in violence Thursday afternoon amid a major Mexican military operation that led to the capture of at least one son of cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
Two sources — including a U.S. law enforcement official — confirmed to VICE News that Chapo’s son Ovidio Guzmán is currently in Mexican military custody. Another son, Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, is also believed to have been captured, but his status remains unconfirmed and there are rumors he may have been killed in a battle with Mexican soldiers.
Mexico’s top public security official issued a statement confirming the arrest of Ovidio Guzmán at a house in Culiacán this afternoon, saying he was captured after a patrol found him and four other cartel members at a house in the city. The statement acknowledged ongoing violence but made no mention of Iván Archivaldo.
Videos
circulating on social media showed utter chaos in Culiacán, the capital
of Sinaloa and a stronghold of the state’s namesake cartel. In the
footage, what appear to be cartel gunmen are seen firing heavy weapons
in the streets, apparently at military or police, while panicked
civilians run. Mexican police and soldiers have reportedly blocked off
highways into the city and many major streets, leaving the city
paralyzed.
“The city's taken, the airport is paralyzed,” one Culiacán
resident told VICE News, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear
of cartel reprisals. “We've never lived anything like this ever, and
whoever says this is not new is lying.”
The resident said he was eating lunch near the state prosecutor’s office when gunfire first erupted around 4 p.m. local time this afternoon, a timeline that squares with other accounts and videos posted on social media. The civilian source said several people were wounded in the encounter, but Mexican government officials have not confirmed any deaths or injuries.
Several sources on the ground in Sinaloa have reported to VICE
News that 39-year-old Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, El Chapo’s eldest son, has
either been killed or captured, with some claiming he was briefly in
custody but either escaped or was released. One unverified video shared
on Twitter purportedly showed a cartel radio handset with gunmen
threatening to harm the families of Mexican soldiers unless Iván is
released.
"Let him go, and go home in peace, nothing will happen to you,” one voice says on the recording. “If not, you're fucked"
Another voice then says, "Get to the families, to the families, if he's not back, fuck them."
What is certain is that Ovidio Guzmán has been captured and may now face extradition to the United States to stand trial in the same Brooklyn courtroom where his dad was sentenced to life in prison earlier this year. Sources confirmed that a photo of Ovidio in custody — showing him with bushy black hair, a light blue collared shirt, and necklaces — is legitimate. Other similar images have also been circulating on Twitter.
One source said Ovidio had suffered a minor head injury during the arrest, another said he was “completely fine.”
Ovidio — one of at least 15 sons fathered by El Chapo — was indicted on drug trafficking charges on Feb. 21, just a week after his father was convicted of leading the Sinaloa cartel for over three decades, using brutal violence to build the organization into Mexico’s most powerful criminal group. In El Chapo’s absence, his sons — known as Los Chapitos or Los Menores — have taken over their father’s faction of the cartel, with Ovidio and Iván playing key roles.
Listen to the VICE News podcast "Chapo: Kingpin on Trial" for free on Spotify.
A conflict has reportedly been brewing in recent months between El Chapo’s sons — known for their flashy lifestyles and brash attitudes — and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the longtime co-leader of the Sinaloa cartel, who prefers to be more low key. And on a visit to Sinaloa last year, sources told VICE News that the sons had also been feuding with their uncle, Aureliano “El Guano” Guzmán, who controls the mountainous area around Chapo’s remote hometown, a key source of heroin and methamphetamine production.
Amid the mayhem this afternoon in Culiacán, city residents feared the worst about what could happen in the fallout from the latest developments. One message circulating on WhatsApp warned citizens to shelter in place because gunmen from across the region were gathering to fight for Chapo’s sons and their allies.
“There are armed people from all the municipalities of Sinaloa, people of Chihuahua, Durango and Guadalajara, [coming] to rescue the children of El Chapo and two more capos who are unknown,” the message said. “That is why the state government has not given information because they do not know what to be careful do not leave your house if you have nothing to do on the street.”
Miguel Fernandez Flores contributed reporting.
Cover: El Chapo's son Ovidio Guzmán in Mexican military police custody on Wednesday, October 17, 2019.
From: Linthicum, Kate <Kate.Li...@latimes.com>
Date: Thu, Oct 17, 2019 at 9:05 PM
Subject: Re: [frontera-list] from The Guardian Re: Shootout(s) in Culiacan, Sinaloa; reporting capture of Ivan Archivaldo Guzman
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