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Passenger plane shot at, chaos erupts in Sinaloa after arrest of son of 'El Chapo'

Passenger plane shot at

The Associated Press & Castanet Staff - | Story: 404705

UPDATE 3:15 p.m.

Canadian tourists were trapped inside a Mexican hotel Thursday as buses that were supposed to take them to an airport and safely home burned outside.

"It's just chaos," said Tina Dahl of Edmonton, whose six family members stranded in the popular tourist city of Mazatlan were supposed to fly out Thursday night.

The federal government advised Canadians in Mexico to limit their movements and shelter in place due to violence in the western part of the country.

The violence began after a pre-dawn security operation on Thursday, in which security forces captured alleged drug trafficker Ovidio Guzman, who is a son of former cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

Ottawa said the violence is particularly fierce in Culiacan, Mazatlan, Los Mochis and Guasave.

Dahl's brother, sister-in-law, their three children and her sister-in-law's mother are all trapped in their hotel room, she said.

"They're supposed to come back today, but they're stuck in their hotel because the three buses that were supposed to go to the airport got lit on fire by the (drug) cartel," Dahl said.

"There was a shootout at the airport so the airports are shut down and the cartel put their warriors outside the hotel. I just know my brother and his family are stuck in the hotel right now."

Dahl has no phone line through to the hotel, she said. But she has been able to communicate with her family through Facebook.

"Sounds like they're all OK," she said.

"(They are) obviously shaken. Just from reading between the lines of the texts and such, they're pretty shaken."

The children are ages 10, 8 and 7.

"I'm sure my brother's probably got (the kids) at the pool, trying to keep them not (focused) on it," Dahl said.

Dahl quoted from a note written by her sister-in-law: "When it first happened, they said we'd try and get you on a flight at 2 o'clock tomorrow.

"I don't think they'll be flying home tomorrow. The gates are locked, the airports are closed and they're burning Mazatlan city.

"The lobby is full of people that were supposed to fly out and if they're not out by 5 p.m. they're kicking them out. These people can't go out in the streets if there's buses burning out front and the cartel's there."

UPDATE 2:15 p.m.

An Aeroméxico passenger plane was shot at while on the runway Thursday at Culiacan International Airport in the chaos that followed the arrest of the son of drug lord Ovidio Guzmán, son of ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán.

It is believed members of the Sinaloa cartel shot at Embraer E190 plane operated at Aeroméxico and a Boeing 737-800 operated by the Mexican Air Force.

“This morning, we detected a bullet hole in the fuselage of an Embraer E190 aircraft that was ready to operate the flight AM165 on the route Culiacán-Mexico City. The flight was canceled for safety reasons,” said Aeroméxico in a statement.

“The plane never began its departure. After this incident, all safety protocols were activated, we informed the authorities, with whom we will coordinate the investigations. The clients and employees are safe.”

The incident has led to the closure of airports in Juarez, Culiacan, Los Mochis and Mazatlan.

The Canadian government has issued a shelter in place notice for those in the state of Sinaloa, which includes the tourist hot spot of Mazatlán.

“There are burning cars, exchanges of fire and threat to essential infrastructure, including airports. The Culiacán and Mazatlán airports are closed and all flights are suspended at Los Mochis airport until further notice,” the Canadian government said.

The capture of Ovidio Guzmán was the result of six months of reconnaissance and surveillance in the cartel’s territory, and then quick action on Thursday, Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said. National Guard troops spotted SUVs, some with homemade armor, and immediately coordinated with the army as they established a perimeter around the suspicious vehicles and forced the occupants out to be searched.

The security forces then came under fire, but were able to gain control of the situation and identify Guzmán among those present and in possession of firearms, Sandoval said.

Cartel members set up 19 roadblocks including at Culiacan’s airport and outside the local army base, as well as all points of access to the city of Culiacan, Sandoval said, but the Air Force was able to fly Guzmán to Mexico City despite their efforts, and he was taken to offices of the Attorney General’s organized crime special prosecutor.

Sandoval said Guzmán was a leader of a Sinaloa faction he called “los menores” or “the juniors,” who are also known as “los Chapitos,” for the sons of El Chapo.

Other “little Chapos” include two of his brothers — Iván Archivaldo Guzmán and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán — who are believed to have been running cartel operations together with Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.

The Chapitos have been taking greater control in the cartel because Zambada was in poor health and isolated in the mountains, Vigil said. “The Chapitos know that if el Mayo dies, (the cartel) is going to break apart if they don’t have control.”

ORIGINAL 11:50 a.m.

Mexican security forces captured Ovidio Guzmán, an alleged drug trafficker wanted by the United States and one of the sons of former Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, Thursday in a pre-dawn operation that set off gunfights and roadblocks across the western state’s capital.

Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said Army and National Guard personnel had captured a son of “El Chapo.” Sandoval identified him only as Ovidio, in keeping with government policy.

Ovidio Guzmán had not been one of El Chapo’s better-known sons until an aborted operation to capture him three years ago. That attempt similarly set off violence in Culiacan that ultimately led President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to order the military to let him go.

This time, local and state officials in Sinaloa warned residents to stay inside, suspended local government activities and closed schools. The Mexican military closed Culiacan’s airport amid gunfire.

The high-profile capture comes just days before López Obrador will host U.S. President Joe Biden for bilateral talks followed by a North American Leaders’ Summit with Biden and Canadian Primer Minister Justin Trudeau. Drug trafficking, along with immigration, is expected to be a top talking point for the leaders.

López Obrador’s security strategy reversed years of what came to be known as the kingpin strategy of taking down cartel leaders. Ultimately, it had led to the fragmentation of large cartels and bloody battles for dominance. López Obrador put all of his faith in the military, disbanding the corrupt Federal Police and creating the National Guard under military command.

“This is a significant blow to the Sinaloa cartel and major victory for the rule of law. It will not, however, impede the flow of drugs into the U.S. Hopefully, Mexico will extradite him to the U.S.,” Mike Vigil, the DEA’s former Chief of International Operations, said Thursday.

Ovidio is not one of the drug lord’s best-known sons. Iván Archivaldo Guzmán and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán are known as “Los Chapitos,” or “the little Chapos,” and are believed to be running their father’s cartel together with Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.

The Chapitos have been taking greater control in the cartel because Zambada was in poor health and isolated in the mountains, Vigil said. “The Chapitos know that if el Mayo dies, (the cartel) is going to break apart if they don’t have control.”

“It’s going to be very important that the U.S. requests Ovidio’s extradition quickly and that Mexico does it,” Vigil said.

Alleged cartel members responded to Thursday’s operation by carjacking Culiacan residents and setting vehicles ablaze in the cartel stronghold. Local and state authorities warned everyone to stay inside.

Such attempts to create chaos often come in response to arrests of important cartel figures in Mexico. One of the most notorious came when federal security forces corned Ovidio Guzmán in October 2019, only to let him escape after gunmen shot up the city with high-powered weapons.

López Obrador said at the time he had made the decision to avoid the loss of life, even though a U.S. was seeking Ovidio Guzman’s extradition on drug trafficking charges. A 2018 federal indictment in Washington, D.C., accused him of conspiring to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana in the United States.

The 2019 debacle was a black eye for López Obrador’s administration that raised even more questions about Mexico’s commitment to battling the country’s powerful drug cartels.

López Obrador entered office highly critical of the toll of his predecessors’ drug war. He embraced the phrase “hugs, not bullets” to describe his approach to Mexico’s chronic violence, which would focus on social programs aimed at weakening the draw of organized crime.

But four years into his six-year term, the death toll remains high.

Sinaloa Gov. Ruben Rocha said via Twitter Thursday that the operation took place in an area north of the capital called Jesus Maria and caused “violent events in the capital and other parts of the state.” Relatives of Ovidio Guzmán are known to live there, according to local news outlet Riodoce, which reported dozens of roadblocks across the city.

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