Mexico arrests El Chapo's son Ovidio Guzman

MEXICO CITY — MEXICO CITY (AP) — Organized crime paralyzed the western Mexico city of Culiacan, a stronghold of the Sinaloa drug cartel, as alleged cartel members carjacked residents and set vehicles ablaze on Thursday in apparent response to the arrest of Mexican capo Ovidio Guzman, the son of incarcerated kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

Local and state authorities warned everyone to stay inside and said their federal counterparts would announce the results of the pre-dawn military operation.

Such outbursts of violence often come in response to arrests of important cartel figures as their allies attempt to create chaos.

Drug trafficking, along with immigration, is expected to be a top talking point as U.S. President Joe Biden travels to Mexico on Monday and Tuesday to meet with Mexcian President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

• Add to Google

Mexico faces violence after son of 'El Chapo' captured

02:37

Sinaloa state security chief Cristóbal Castañeda warned citizens via Twitter, adding that the state was responding and would inform when they could.

The city of Culiacan posted on social media “Don’t leave home! The safety of Culiacan’s citizens is the most important.” It said work was suspended for all municipal employees. State education authorities announced that all administrative and teacher activities were also suspended Thursday in Culiacan.

During his morning press conference, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador confirmed there was an ongoing operation in Culiacan, but they would share information on it later.

The operation 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.

Culiacan has seen such displays before. One of the most notorious occurred in October 2019, when federal security forces corned Ovidio Guzmán, one of the sons of Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán. When gunmen began shooting up the city with high-powered weapons, the government retreated and let the younger Guzmán escape. López Obrador said at the time he had made the decision to avoid the loss of life.

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

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between killed New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between killed New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

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, violence levels remain high.

On Thursday, Sinaloa Gov. Ruben Rocha said via Twitter 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.” He called for calm and said federal authorities would announce the results.

Jesus Maria is apart from the city, but included in the municipality. Relatives of Ovidio Guzmán are known to live there, according to local news outlet Riodoce, which reported dozens of roadblocks across the city.

The U.S. embassy in Mexico published an alert for the state of Sinaloa Thursday saying there were “reports of gunfire occurring in multiple locations of the state, including Culiacan, Los Mochis and Guasave.”