El Chapo son a leader of Mexico's
Sinaloa cartel captured and reportedly
released after siege Mexico City heavily
armed criminals laid siege to the
northern Mexican city of Culiacan on
Thursday after the government captured a
video Guzman Lopez a leader of the
powerful Sinaloa cartel and the son of
notorious drug lord Joaquin el chapo
guzman masked men with high-powered
weapons faced off with soldiers and took
control of major streets as gunmen
blocked entrances to the city with
burning vehicles it was not clear
whether authorities managed to keep
Guzman in custody two major Mexican
newspapers reported late Thursday that
officials had released him to placate
his armed defenders Mexico's security
secretary Alfonso Durazo said in a
televised message Thursday night that
members of the army and the newly formed
National Guard had been conducting a
routine patrol in the ters Rios
neighborhood of juliek on that afternoon
when they were fired upon from a house
authorities returned fire took control
of the house and found four occupants
inside Durazo said one of them was the
28 year old Guzman allies of Gusman
quickly flocked to the scene and
surround in the house with a greater
force than that of authorities he said
at the same time Durazo said other
groups carried out violent actions
against citizens in various points of
the city generating a situation of panic
videos posted to social media showed
scenes resembling a civil war in one at
ruk circulated with what appeared to be
a point five zero caliber machine gun
bolted to the back in another a father
comforted his daughter while they sought
shelter from a shootout on the floor of
a store why are they shooting bullets
she asks I don't know my love he answers
get down the
sure of a highly thought fugitive who
had helped lead one of the country's
oldest and most powerful cartels would
be an impressive feat for the government
Gusman sought to take control of the
Sinaloa cartel along with his older
brother Ivan arch of Aldo Gusman Salazar
after their father was captured and
extradited to the United States in 2017
this year their father was sentenced to
life in prison in the US on drug
trafficking and conspiracy charges
the Gusman sons known here as los carros
have faced competition from ismael el
mayo sam bodda a co-founder of the
cartel who has reportedly sought to oust
them the group has also faced challenges
from the emergent joe liske own new
generation cartel which is suspected in
the ambush and killing of fourteen
police officers in the state of
Michoacan on Monday Falco Ernst a Mexico
researcher with the nonprofit
International Crisis Group said the
chaos and Julia Khan is the latest in a
string of events in which the government
of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador
has appeared weak in the face of growing
violence across the country lopez
obrador has pledged to take a softer
tack than the militarized approach of
his predecessors and tackle the social
roots of crime it essentially leaves us
at zero Ernst said the past
administrations heart handed approach
hasn't worked and neither has a new
administration's approach he said if the
government does not define a sound
reaction to this this might trigger
imitation by others gen Albert Hudson
Mexico representative for the nonprofit
Committee to Protect Journalists who was
in collision on Thursday night said the
security crisis appeared to be ongoing
smoke from blockades was visible on the
horizon he said and many residents were
sheltering in place people are pretty
spooked he said the Sinaloa state
government issued a statement urging
residents to keep calm given the high
impact events that have been occurring
in the last hours in various parts of
Culiacan we are working together to
restore order and tranquil
the statement said the message to the
population at this time is to remain
calm not to go out on the streets and to
wait for official news about the
evolution of these events
