Ongoing street warfare in Mexico follows arrest of son El Chapo's son
CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Sinaloa Cartel that supplies a majority of Chicago street drugs has been a father-son operation for years.
Joaquin Guzman, the drug lord known as El Chapo, was put away for life in a U.S. prison. His son, Ovidio, has held some of his dad's power and wealth, along with three of his brothers.
Mexican neighborhoods have been littered with bullet casings in the wake of Ovidio Guzman's arrest. Known as "The Mouse," he had been holed up since his 2019 capture and release.
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The flow of fentanyl from Sinaloa, Mexico, has been continuing unabated, and taking thousands of American lives in Illinois and all across America.
"With fentanyl, for us our number one priority is the Sinaloa Cartel, and you know, that's our focus, still going strong. Unfortunately, the Sinaloa Cartel is producing most of the fentanyl that comes into the United States," Chicago's then DEA special agent in charge, Robert Bell, told the I-Team.
Bell had signaled the full press underway for all four of El Chapo's accused drug trafficking sons. As the I-Team first reported in late 2021, "Los Chapitos" as they are known, each had fresh $5 million bounties on their heads by U.S. law enforcement, with special hot lines and dedicated email addresses for Los Chapitos information.
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Ovidio Guzman, El Chapo's oldest son, is considered the leader of the cartel's fentanyl division.
Since his arrest on Thursday, Mexican media are now reporting 10 soldiers have been killed along with 19 cartel operatives. On the streets, there were vehicles in flames as cartel commando squads clashed with police and Mexican soldiers.
Gunfire has been filling the streets, and even an aircraft was hit by flying bullets.
Passengers on a jetliner had to duck for cover as gunfire hit the plane. With Mazatlan and Culiacan airports both shut down, tourists and residents were urged to stay inside. Authorities say no civilians have been killed in the cartel violence.
The Chapo kin arrest happened just before President Biden arrived in Mexico City for talks with the country's leader.
The father and son partnership now involves two prisons. El Chapo, 65, is at the Supermax in Colorado; and son Ovidio, 32, is being held at the very same Mexican prison where his father escaped on a motorbike in 2015. Three other sons are still on the lam. Authorities say they run day-to-day Sinaloa Cartel business.
The cartel creator is also still a fugitive: Ismael Zambada, 75, known as El Mayo. The U.S. is offering a $15 million reward for El Mayo.
