El Chapo Sons' Hitmen Held Mexico Town Hostage and Killed 2 Men Before Kidnapping Several Others
A town in Mexico was reportedly held hostage for 24 hours by hitmen loyal to the sons of Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera.
According to Daily Star, the Caborca town in Mexico's Sonora state was invaded by more than 20 pickup trucks of armed men linked to El Chapo's sons to intimidate the rival gangs in the area and lay siege to the town.
The outlet noted that words about the drug cartel raiding the town started to circulate among residents on February 15 from truck drivers who heard cartel members at gas stations brag: "The Chapiza is here: we are coming with everything."
El País reported that the pickup trucks covered in homemade armor and mounted with assault rifles that were seen moving from Altar town arrived in Caborca at around 7 p.m.
The vehicles were reportedly marked with an "X," while the armed men were dressed in military and tactical gear. Reports said the hitmen took time to fill their vehicles with gas and filmed themselves boasting about their artillery.
The armed men then roamed through the town and searched houses for enemies before killing two men and leaving them in the street.
The National Guard, police, and the armed forces reportedly knew about the attack. However, residents said no authorities were present to defend them from the drug cartel's hitmen.
"There was not a single authority that went out to confront them. They all hid. They abandoned us," a woman told El País.
The hitmen also kidnapped several people, including Eduardo Uribe and his friend, Sebastián Manríquez, the son of a veteran Caborca journalist.
Manríquez reappeared the next night, while Uribe was found alive on Thursday. Three others were abducted on Tuesday night, and two are still missing.
At least 100 men with heavy weapons who posted photos on social media as they took the streets of Caborca left the town after 24 hours.
Another woman told El Pais that she heard the first shots at midnight and the final ones at 6 a.m. on Wednesday.
"It's like being in a war zone... Nobody slept," she noted.
According to local reporters, El Chapo's sons, known as "Los Chapitos," wanted the drug routes, weapons, and even the migrants, so they would threaten and besiege a rival territory when they felt like it.
Caborca is a town located a few kilometers from the U.S.
Rewards Offered For 4 Sons of Sinaloa Cartel Boss' El Chapo
Last December, the U.S. State Department offered $5 million rewards for any information that could help federal agents arrest El Chapo's four sons, who reportedly share control of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Joaquin Guzman Lopez, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, Ivan Archivaldo Guzman, and Jesus Alfredo Guzman had reportedly assumed leadership roles in the Sinaloa Cartel with their uncle Aureliano "El Guano" Guzman and co-founder Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada after El Chapo was arrested and extradited to the U.S.
The U.S. Department of Treasury said Joaquin, Ovidio, and Ivan had been previously indicted on federal drug trafficking charges. The Treasury Department has sanctioned the trio.
Joaquin was indicted with Ovidio in April 2018, and they were both charged with conspiring to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine, 500 grams of methamphetamine, and 1,000 kilograms of marijuana.
Investigators said that Joaquin and his brother manage around 11 laboratories in their home state of Sinaloa that produce up to 5,000 pounds of methamphetamine monthly.
'Los Chapitos' in The Drug Trafficking Trade
The State Department said that "Los Chapitos" are high-ranking members of the Sinaloa Cartel and are each subject to a federal indictment for their involvement in the illegal drug trade.
But despite the million-dollar rewards, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador earlier said that U.S. federal agents could not simply step on Mexico's soil and arrest El Chapo's sons.
The president noted that it is up to the local authorities in Mexico to stop them if the brothers are in the national territory. Lopez Obrador said that foreign agencies are not allowed to do any apprehensions.
InsightCrime reported that Ovidio, Ivan, and Jesus were brought into the Sinaloa Cartel's criminal operations when they were teenagers by their father and El Mayo to learn the ins and outs of the organization.
Los Chapitos was reportedly much flashier with spending drug proceeds and partying than El Chapo's former right-hand man, El Mayo, who now appears to be the internal enemy number one of Los Chapitos.
El Chapo's sons have also been at odds with their uncle, El Guano. The Los Chapitos are reportedly looking to assume supreme control of the Sinaloa Cartel.
The Sinaloa Cartel is one of Mexico's largest and most powerful drug trafficking organizations. The group was founded in the late 1980s and headed by El Chapo.
Under El Chapo's leadership, the Sinaloa Cartel earned its reputation through violence and outfought several rival groups.
El Chapo was sentenced to spend the rest of his days in the ADX Florence "supermax" prison after being sentenced to life imprisonment in 2019.
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Joshua Summers
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