New video of Mexican gun battle during El Chapo son raid

CHICAGO (WLS) -- There is new, very violent video inside the firefights that followed a police raid on one of Chicago's biggest Mexican cartel drug suppliers. The raid resulted in one of El Chapo's sons being arrested...for a short time.

Mexican security forces converged on Culiacan almost two weeks ago and targeted top leaders of the ruthless Sinaloa Cartel-including a son of notorious drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

Helmet cam video from the October 17 assault on cartel operatives vividly portrays the gun battles that left eight dead and 20 wounded. Government officers were outgunned by cartel snipers.

The chaos in Culiacan occurred in Sinaloa cartel's home base, and the beginning of a cocaine, heroin and meth pipeline direct to Chicago.

"El Chapo" Guzman supervised a multi-billion dollar empire from the Mexican stronghold and now that he is in prison, one of his youngest sons Ovidio is riding shotgun.

And those guns blazed when three dozen troopers descended on the young Guzman's home, arresting him on an outstanding U.S. extradition warrant.

With Chapo's kin up against the wall, soldiers ordered him to call off cartel defenses as gunfire lit up the streets. He got on a cell phone and called his brother but the deadly attack continued. Cartel gunman won the battle.

To curtail the continuing bloodbath, security forces released 28-year-old Guzman, the man they had come to get in the first place.

It was an embarrassing moment for Mexican officials all the way to the nation's president, and with new information that the raid was in the works for more than a week there are questions about what he knew and when.

Mexico's defense and security ministers Wednesday said saving lives was more important than saving face, so they let El Chapo's son go. Government critics charge that authorities caved to the cartels, and that it will encourage all of them to expect similar treatment, or else.