Plane Passengers Duck Amid Gunfire at Culiacan Airport as Mexico Captures Son of 'El Chapo'

Mexican authorities captured alleged drug trafficker Ovidio Guzman, a son of former Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, in a pre-dawn operation in Culiacan on Thursday, January 5, according to defense minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval.

Ovidio Guzman, also known as El Raton (“The Mouse”), is wanted by the United States, which accuses him and his brother Joaquin Guzman of trafficking marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamines on a large scale and selling the drugs to US and Canadian-based distributors.

The US also alleges that Ovidio Guzman “ordered the murders of informants, a drug trafficker, and a popular Mexican singer who had refused to sing at his wedding.”

The arrest operation led to an outbreak of violence, which involved vehicles being set on fire to blockade various routes in Culiacan and elsewhere in Sinaloa, and gun battles between “armed civilians.”

Shooting was also reported at Culiacan International Airport where two Mexican Air Force planes landed. The airport said it was closed from 8:30 am to 10 pm on Thursday for the safety of passengers.

Footage captured by David Tellez Garcia, who was due to be flying from Culiacan to Mexico City at 8.24 am, shows passengers ducking inside a plane on the tarmac at the airport. Credit: David Tellez Garcia via Storyful

Video transcript

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