Guzman relative says ‘El Chapo’ son released in Mexico
CIUDAD JUAREZ (AFP) — The son of jailed Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been released following his kidnapping earlier this week, a member of the Sinaloa cartel leader’s family said.
Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, 29, reportedly was freed late Friday along with the five other men with whom he was kidnapped from a bar, a relative who requested anonymity for security reasons told
“They were negotiating all this time, but now are free and well,” the source said, adding that some of the captured men were already back in Sinaloa state.
Guzman Salazar — one of Guzman’s sons from his first marriage — was attending a celebration early Monday at an upscale restaurant and bar in the resort city of Puerto Vallarta when gunmen in pick-up trucks swooped in and kidnapped him and five of his six companions.
Several women who were also at the fete were allowed to leave unharmed.
The younger Guzman — himself a key operator in the Sinaloa cartel who is wanted for arrest under a 2009 warrant — was identified by the Jalisco state prosecutor’s office based on security camera footage.
Notified by about the reported release, the Mexico Attorney General’s office said simply that it is “still working on the investigation.”
Authorities had said they suspected the gunmen who seized the men were from the Jalisco New Generation cartel, an upstart rival of the Sinaloa cartel.
Jalisco New Generation has grown into a powerful force in recent years, spreading into Asia and Europe and defying the authorities with attacks and ambushes. Last year it brought down an army helicopter with a rocket launcher, killing seven soldiers.
The governors of western Jalisco and Sinaloa states, where the two crime syndicates are based, have warned of possible reprisals or even a full scale warfare between the drug cartels if Guzman Salazar was not released.