29 killed in bid to nab drug lord's son

32-year-old Ovidio Guzmán-López has become the leader of his father's former cartel. When he was captured in Culiacán, the government had to lose 10 soldiers but killed 19 gangsters.

New Delhi, Jan 7: This was like a scene from the 1983 film 'Scarface'. A drug lord's son is to be arrested but the cops have to face the underworld gang he leads. The consequence of the encounter is death and destruction. In a similar scenario, 29 people were killed in the fight when a team went to arrest drug lord El Chapo's son Ovidio Guzmán-López, said reports.

Drug mafias are quite dear to the establishment in Mexico and it could be understood from the fact that Ovidio Guzmán was previously arrested by federal authorities in October 2019. However, he was freed after President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The decision according to the government was made to avoid further bloodshed.

Mexico's drug lords, a State within State

The State armies and police go weak when it comes to fighting against drug lords in Mexico. Similar things happened in this case as Ovidio Guzmán-López who, at 32 years of age, became a leader of his father's former cartel. When he was captured in Culiacán the government had to lose 10 soldiers. The drug mafia also lost 19 of its members.

The scale and extent of the fight between the mafia and army was intense as the furious gang members not just set up roadblocks, they burned vehicles and attacked planes at a local airport.

Who is El Chapo?

According to Forbes, El Chapo is CEO of the Sinaloa cartel. The literal meaning of "El Chapo" is 'shorty'. He gained his name from his short stature. Nonetheless, he is the world's most powerful drug trafficker feared even by the government. It is claimed that his cartel is responsible for nearly 25% of all illegal drugs that are sold in the United States from Mexico.

Not just that he monopolises drug trade in Mexico and a major reason behind the drug trafficking from his country to the US, he according to drug enforcement experts his business generates a revenue of more than 3 billion dollars. His activities have earned several enemies as well and he is wanted in the US. In fact, the city of Chicago branded him the first "Public Enemy No. 1."

Since the drug mafia has been a wanted in the US, there have been several efforts to extradite him. In one such effort in 2016 when El Chapo was recaptured on 8 January 2016 and tried for extradition, Vicente Antonio Bermúdez Zacarías, a federal judge, gave a judgment against him. The judge was assassinated on 17 October 2016 while jogging near Mexico City.