Outgunned guards drop bid to grab El Chapo son
MEXICAN AUTHORITIES say they backed off an attempt to capture a son of former drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman after cartel gunmen shooting heavy weapons and burning vehicles paralysed the capital of Sinaloa state, leaving eight people dead in a shootout.
Federal security officials said in a news conference that those killed include one civilian, one member of the National Guard, one prisoner and five attackers.
Twenty-one people were wounded, state public security secretary Cristobal Castaneda said, and 27 inmates escaped from a prison, as law enforcement officers were apparently outgunned.
Security secretary Alfonso Durazo said 30 members of the National Guard and army were patrolling in Culiacan when they were fired on from a house on Thursday.
They repelled the attack and inside the house found Ovidio Guzman Lopez, son of the convicted Sinaloa cartel boss.
The house was then surrounded by heavily armed gunmen who had “a greater force” and authorities decided to suspend the operation, Mr Durazo said.
He did not say if Ovidio Guzman had been arrested or went free, but he told Televisa that security forces left the house without him.
“With the goal of safeguarding the well-being and tranquillity of Culiacan society, officials in the security cabinet decided to suspend the actions,” Mr Durazo said.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he backed the decisions of his security officials, and added that the army operation was based on an arrest warrant.
“The capture of one criminal cannot be worth more than the lives of people,” Mr Lopez Obrador said, calling the response to the operation “very violent” and saying many lives were put at risk.
“This decision was made to protect citizens. You cannot fight fire with fire,” he added.
“We do not want deaths. We do not want war.”