Soldiers tell Chapo’s son to call off attacks

MEXICO CITY (AP) :

MEXICAN SECURITY forces had a son of Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán outside a house on his knees against a wall before they were forced to back off and let him go as his gunmen shot up the western city of Culiacan.

Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval on Wednesday showed video of the failed operation to arrest Ovidio Guzmán López on October 17 — an incident that embarrassed the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

The video shot by soldiers shows Guzmán exit the house with his hands up. Soldiers order him to call off the attacks around the city.

He called his brother Archivaldo Iván Guzmán Salazar on his cell phone and told him to stop the chaos.

Archivaldo responded no and shouted threats against the soldiers and their families. The attacks continued and eight minutes later the first wounded soldiers were reported.

WITHDRAWAL

Security forces ultimately withdrew to avoid more bloodshed. Thirteen people were killed in gunbattles around the city.

Mexico’s Public Safety Secretary Alfonso Durazo said that the aborted operation to arrest Guzmán was a “hasty action” that deserves criticism, but added the government’s security strategy is sound. Critics argued that the government should have anticipated the overwhelming response by the Sinaloa cartel and that by withdrawing they gave cartels a road map on how to avoid capture.

Durazo described the action as a “tactical stumble” but said it doesn’t invalidate the security strategy.

Sandoval said that there was an arrest order for Guzmán based on a September 13 United States extradition request.