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Mexican security forces flee after cartel gunmen launch WAR to release El Chapo’s son at drug lord’s bastion Culiacan (GRAPHIC) Mexican security forces flee after cartel gunmen launch WAR to release El Chapo’s son at drug lord’s bastion Culiacan (GRAPHIC)
(32 minutes later)
In order to protect lives, Mexican authorities were forced to release the notorious drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman’s son after heavily armed cartel gunmen launched a vicious assault against security forces holding their boss.In order to protect lives, Mexican authorities were forced to release the notorious drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman’s son after heavily armed cartel gunmen launched a vicious assault against security forces holding their boss.
Police arrived at Guzman’s compound earlier in full force – armed officers on foot, even trucks and jeeps with mounted weapons. But masked gunmen working for the kingpin apparently overpowered them, trading heavy gunfire that left “blazing vehicles strewn across the street” and forced locals to take shelter in schools and supermarkets as shops closed to avoid the violence. Ovidio Guzman was briefly arrested after patrolling federal police came under fire from a house where he was holed up with three others. Once the cartel learned the drug lord’s son had been apprehended, groups of armed criminals began attacking police all over the city with heavy firepower, blocking roads and setting vehicles on fire.
Ovidio Guzman, briefly apprehended on Thursday in the city of Culiacan, was released, Security Minister Alfonso Durazo confirmed following hours of uncertainty and reports of heavy gun battles in El Chapo’s home state of Sinaloa. Authorities were forced to make this decision in order to “protect lives,” the minister told Reuters. They surrounded the house where Guzman had been nabbed "with a force greater than that of the patrol," Security Minister Alfonso Durazo said. The attacks were so vicious that authorities opted to “suspend our actions,” lest the city degenerate further into a war zone.
Police arrived at Guzman’s compound in the city of Culiacan earlier on Thursday in full force – armed officers on foot, even trucks and jeeps with mounted weapons. But masked gunmen working for the kingpin apparently overpowered them, trading heavy gunfire that left “blazing vehicles strewn across the street” and forced locals to take shelter in schools and supermarkets as shops closed to avoid the violence.
Authorities of El Chapo’s home state of Sinaloa had no other choice but to release Guzman, in order to “protect lives,” the minister said. However, several other cartel-linked individuals were detained and wounded, Secretary of Security of Sinaloa Cristobal Castañeda told El Financiero, adding that local authorities worked with the National Guard, the Army, and the Navy on the operation.
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