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Mexico captures Sinaloa cartel boss who launched power bid after El Chapo arrest | Mexico captures Sinaloa cartel boss who launched power bid after El Chapo arrest |
(35 minutes later) | |
Mexican soldiers and police have detained a Sinaloa cartel leader who was once Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s right-hand man, but more recently became locked in a power struggle with the imprisoned kingpin’s sons. | Mexican soldiers and police have detained a Sinaloa cartel leader who was once Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s right-hand man, but more recently became locked in a power struggle with the imprisoned kingpin’s sons. |
Dámaso López was arrested at an apartment block in an upper middle class Mexico City neighbourhood on Tuesday morning, the attorney general’s office said in a statement. | Dámaso López was arrested at an apartment block in an upper middle class Mexico City neighbourhood on Tuesday morning, the attorney general’s office said in a statement. |
Troops and police officers in masks and full battle gear led López from the building before he was sped in a convoy of white vehicles to a unit of the attorney general’s office. | Troops and police officers in masks and full battle gear led López from the building before he was sped in a convoy of white vehicles to a unit of the attorney general’s office. |
Nicknamed “El Licenciado” – a title for college graduates – López was a former security official himself, and once worked as head of security in the Puente Grande prison near Guadalajara, where Guzmán was held after his first arrest in 1993. | Nicknamed “El Licenciado” – a title for college graduates – López was a former security official himself, and once worked as head of security in the Puente Grande prison near Guadalajara, where Guzmán was held after his first arrest in 1993. |
López is accused of helping Guzmán slip out of the prison in 2001 in the first of two high-profile escapes. | López is accused of helping Guzmán slip out of the prison in 2001 in the first of two high-profile escapes. |
After the escape, López kept a low profile but reputedly worked closely with the fugitive kingpin. Guzmán became godfather to López’s son, Dámaso López Serrano, nicknamed “El Mini-Licenciado” and the supposed leader of a Sinaloa cartel hit team known as Los Ántrax. | |
In 2013, the US Department of the Treasury’s office of foreign assets control described López as “one of the top lieutenants of the Sinaloa cartel” when it announced sanctions identifying him as a major international drug trafficker. | In 2013, the US Department of the Treasury’s office of foreign assets control described López as “one of the top lieutenants of the Sinaloa cartel” when it announced sanctions identifying him as a major international drug trafficker. |
A grand jury in Virginia has accused López of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and launder money, according to the Associated Press. | A grand jury in Virginia has accused López of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and launder money, according to the Associated Press. |
Guzmán, who escaped a second maximum security prison in 2015, was detained for a third time outside a motel in the Sinaloa city of Los Mochis in January 2016. He was extradited to the US on the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration to face multiple charges. | Guzmán, who escaped a second maximum security prison in 2015, was detained for a third time outside a motel in the Sinaloa city of Los Mochis in January 2016. He was extradited to the US on the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration to face multiple charges. |
López is now believed to be engaged in a bitter dispute with Guzmán’s sons for control of the cartel’s territories, especially in its heartland of Sinaloa state, where violence has surged since El Chapo’s recapture. | López is now believed to be engaged in a bitter dispute with Guzmán’s sons for control of the cartel’s territories, especially in its heartland of Sinaloa state, where violence has surged since El Chapo’s recapture. |
“It’s going to get worse,” said a local reporter who covers drug violence. “The war now is inside Dámaso’s faction. Internal disputes are always much more violent than when they fight rival groups.” | “It’s going to get worse,” said a local reporter who covers drug violence. “The war now is inside Dámaso’s faction. Internal disputes are always much more violent than when they fight rival groups.” |
With Guzmán now in the US, the Sinaloa cartel has been controlled by Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García and Rafael Caro Quintero, two of the more traditional, old-school capos, who are understood to have stayed on the sidelines of the dispute between López and Guzmán’s sons: Iván Archivaldo Guzmán and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán, sometimes called “Los Chapitos”. | With Guzmán now in the US, the Sinaloa cartel has been controlled by Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García and Rafael Caro Quintero, two of the more traditional, old-school capos, who are understood to have stayed on the sidelines of the dispute between López and Guzmán’s sons: Iván Archivaldo Guzmán and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán, sometimes called “Los Chapitos”. |
The battle between them has brought bloodshed to Sinaloa, which registered 142 homicides in March, the most violence month there since 2011, according to the newspaper Noroeste. | The battle between them has brought bloodshed to Sinaloa, which registered 142 homicides in March, the most violence month there since 2011, according to the newspaper Noroeste. |
In a handwritten letter made public by journalist Ciro Gómez Leyva in February, the sons alleged they were lured to a meeting with López, but attacked upon arriving. | In a handwritten letter made public by journalist Ciro Gómez Leyva in February, the sons alleged they were lured to a meeting with López, but attacked upon arriving. |
The Sinaloa cartel is often described as a confederation of crime leaders – many with roots in the rural areas of Sinaloa state – in which Guzmán was seen as the ultimate authority to referee internal disputes. | The Sinaloa cartel is often described as a confederation of crime leaders – many with roots in the rural areas of Sinaloa state – in which Guzmán was seen as the ultimate authority to referee internal disputes. |
But analysts say that the structure has come under unprecedented pressure since El Chapo’s recapture and the emergence of a new generation of leaders more prone to conspicuous displays of wealth, and less willing to follow established cartel codes which discouraged attacks on rivals’ families or the local population. | But analysts say that the structure has come under unprecedented pressure since El Chapo’s recapture and the emergence of a new generation of leaders more prone to conspicuous displays of wealth, and less willing to follow established cartel codes which discouraged attacks on rivals’ families or the local population. |
“Something the Sinaloa cartel did well was have these cells in which everyone made good money, but they also got along,” said Adrián López, editor of Noroeste. “There was a mafia model in which the main interest was everyone doing well … After with El Chapo’s escape the federal government started a focus on Sinaloa that hadn’t happened before.” | |