El Chapo Son Ovidio Guzman Lopez's Arrest Sparks Ongoing Street Warfare in Mexico's Sinaloa State; 140 People Reported Missing

The streets of Mexico's Sinaloa state are being hit with a wave of violence following the arrest of Ovidio Guzman Lopez, the son of Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera. Some neighborhoods have been littered with bullet casings.

ABC 7 reported that Ovidio is the head figure of the Sinaloa Cartel's fentanyl division, which has continued to take thousands of American lives, particularly in Illinois.

Mexican media have reported that 10 soldiers were already killed along with 19 cartel members since Ovidio's arrest last Thursday.

Vehicles on the street were left ablaze as cartel gunmen clashed with police and Mexican soldiers.

An aircraft was also hit by gunfire, with passengers on a jetliner needing to duck for cover as gunfire struck the plane. Mazatlan and Culiacan airports were both shutdown.

Both residents and tourists around the area were encouraged to stay inside. Authorities said no civilians had been killed so far amid the ongoing cartel violence.

However, the Sinaloa town of Jesus Maria was seeing protests against the disappearance of more than 140 people from their community since Ovidio's arrest.

Disappearances Following the Arrest of El Chapo's Son Ovidio Guzman Lopez

Around 200 demonstrators arrived at the Government Palace in Sinaloa state's capital of Culiacan in trucks Monday morning, accusing the Mexican army of human rights violations.

The protesters, who were residents of Jesus María, also demanded the state government address the impact of military presence in their town.

One protester's placard said the children were "afraid of seeing soldiers," adding that they do not want the military presence in their town.

Demonstrators broke some of the glass in the doors of the Government Palace, which caused the state police to block their access to the building. The town of Jesus Maria is where Ovidio Guzman Lopez was captured last Thursday.

Ovidio's followers then terrorized the municipality with armed attacks and blocked highways around the state for around 12 hours, leaving soldiers and cartel members dead.

The army also blocked access to Jesus Maria while searches were conducted. The military has also cut off the town's power supply, telecommunications, and water.

As opposed to the government's claims of the operation having no civilian casualties, residents estimated that 140 people disappeared from their community, mostly young men and women between the ages of 12 and 25.

Sinaloa Cartel's Ovidio Guzman Lopez

Benjamin Smith, author of the monumental history of Mexican drug trafficking, "The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade," told El Pais that they were not entirely sure how big Ovidio Guzman Lopez is when it comes to the drug trade.

Citing the U.S. State Department, Smith noted that El Chapo's son produces more than 3,000 kilos of methamphetamine monthly, but he has no idea where the department got that figure.

He said there were a lot of unanswered questions about the four sons of El Chapo, known as Los Chapitos, and the role Ovidio plays in the Sinaloa drug trade.

Ovidio, born in 1990, is the youngest of four brothers on the State Department list. As young as 18, he reportedly took over the drug business in 2008 when his older brother, Edgar Guzman Lopez, was assassinated in a Culiacan supermarket.

This article is owned by Latin Post

Written by: Mary Webber

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