Mexico gives account of violence during drug lord Guzman's arrest

The operation to detain Ovidio Guzman, the son of imprisoned drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, has unleashed firefights that turned the northern city of Culiacan into a war zone, authorities said.

In a blow-by-blow description of the battles that killed 10 military personnel and 19 suspected members of the Sinaloa drug cartel, Defence Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said on Friday that cartel gunmen opened fire on troops with .50-caliber machine guns.

The army responded by calling in Blackhawk helicopter gunships to attack a convoy of 25 cartel vehicles, including truck-mounted cartel gun platforms, on Thursday.

The running shootouts killed one Culiacan policeman and wounded 17 police officers and 35 military personnel.

The cartel then opened fire on the military aircraft, forcing two of them down with "a significant number of impacts" in each of the two aircraft, Sandoval said.

The gang then sent hordes of gunmen to attack fixed-wing aircraft, both military and civilian, at the city’s international airport.

The gunmen also shot up airport buildings in a bid to prevent authorities from flying the captured cartel boss out of the city, but, Sandoval said, authorities anticipating the resistance had loaded Ovidio Guzman, nicknamed "El Raton" (The Mouse), onto a military helicopter to fly him back to Mexico City.

The Mexican administration bagged the high-profile cartel figure days before hosting US President Joe Biden.

Samuel Gonzalez, who founded Mexico's special prosecutor's office for organised crime in the 1990s, said Guzman's capture was a "gift" ahead of Biden's visit.

The Mexican government "is working to have a calm visit," he said.

READ MORE: Over two dozens killed in operation to arrest drug kingpin son: Mexico

Culiacan residents may still support cartel

The scope of Thursday’s violence was such that Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha said cartel gunmen showed up at local hospitals, trying to abduct doctors and take them away to treat wounded fighters.

Rocha said that gunmen would be treated if they showed up at hospitals, but that gunmen shouldn't try to abduct medical personnel.

"It got to the point that at one moment the doctors were saying 'we are getting out of here'," recalled Rocha, saying police had reinforced security and convinced the doctors to stay.

Culiacan residents posted video on social media showing convoys of gunmen in pickup trucks and SUVs rolling down boulevards in the city on Thursday.

At least one convoy included a flatbed truck with a mounted gun in the back.

Juan Carlos Ayala, a Culiacan resident and Sinaloa University professor who studies the sociology of drug trafficking, said many Culiacan residents may still support the cartel.

That may be because of the money the gang brings to the region, but also because locals know that even after federal troops withdraw, the cartel will still be there. As bad as it is, the cartel has ensured relative stability, if not peace.

READ MORE: Mexico nabs drug lord Ovidio 'The Mouse' ahead of Biden tour

'More weapons than three years ago'

The United States had a reward out of up to $5 million for information leading to Ovidio Guzman's capture.

It accuses him of being a key player in the infamous Sinaloa cartel along with long-time cartel boss Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard confirmed that the government had received a request in 2019 from the United States for Guzman's arrest for purposes of extradition.

He said that the request would have to be updated and processed, but he added that first, an open case in Mexico awaits Guzman.

Ismael Bojorquez, director of the local news outlet Riodoce, which specialises in coverage of the area’s drug trafficking, said the violent reaction had to do with the president’s less aggressive stance toward organised crime.

"They (cartels) have taken advantage of these four years to organise themselves, arm themselves, strengthen their structures, their finances," he said.

"I believe there are more weapons than three years ago. All of organised crime’s armies have strengthened, not just the Chapitos, and this is the price that society is paying for this strategy of the federal government."

READ MORE: Who is El Chapo and why is he on trial in the US?