Ovidio Guzmán, son of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and leader of Los Chapitos, has been detained by Mexican authorities in Sinaloa, sources tell Fox News Digital.
The arrest occurred in the town of Jesús María by members of the Mexican National Guard, the Ministry of National Defense (SEDENA) and the Ministry of the Navy (SEMAR). Residents of the city woke up to gunfire as government forces battled with local cartel forces.
Images circulating on social media purported to show a convoy of cartel vehicles moving to disrupt Guzmán’s arrest.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador confirmed that there was a military operation in Sinaloa, but refused to provide details.
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This October 17, 2019 frame grab from video provided by the Mexican government shows Ovidio Guzmán being detained in Culiacán, Mexico. (CEPROPIE via AP)
“We do not know how the facts are in Sinaloa. There is an operation that began at dawn, and we will inform you later,” Obrador said Thursday.
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Mexican authorities previously detained Guzmán in 2019 but quickly released him to avoid a massive confrontation with cartel forces.
In the 2019 incident, the president of Mexico ordered the withdrawal of his forces after an attack by the cartels. At least eight people died in that incident.
Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the head of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, is escorted to a helicopter in Mexico City after his capture in the resort of Mazatlán in 2014.
(AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)
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Guzmán remains a high-level member of the Sinaloa Cartel. In December 2021, the United States government offered a $5 million reward to anyone who provided information to arrest El Chapo’s sons —Ovidio, Iván, Jesús, Alfredo and Joaquín Guzmán— for considering them leaders of a faction within the Cartel de Sinaloa.
