MEXICO CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th January, 2023) Mexican drug lord Ovidio Guzman Lopez, the son of incarcerated drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, has been delivered to Mexico City after having been detained in the city of Culiacan, where violent clashes with members of his gang continue, Mexican Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval Gonzalez said on Thursday.
"From the scene of the arrest, the detainee was taken to Mexico City by a Mexican Air Force aircraft,... transferred to the premises of the Attorney General's Office for Special Investigations on Organized Crime (FEMDO) for further transfer to the Federal prosecutor's office and clarification of his legal situation," Sandoval told a briefing.
The secretary added that the security forces continue ground and air patrols in Culiacan since the arrest of Guzman Lopez, where bandits are blocking roads and burning cars. Three airports in the region have been shut down, and local residents have been advised against leaving their homes.
Cristobal Castaneda, the public security secretary in the state of Sinaloa, tweeted that the attack on the local prison and the attempted escape of some prisoners have been prevented. He added that seven police officers and several military personnel had been injured, with no fatalities so far.
Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard on Thursday ruled out the immediate extradition of Guzman Lopez to the United States.
"We cannot extradite him... or, in these circumstances, proceed with his deportation today or tomorrow or the day after, it is impossible, we must comply with the formalities that the law imposes on us," Ebrard said, as quoted by the Universal newspaper.
Ebrard said that the US requested Guzman Lopez's extradition in 2019, adding that he cannot be immediately extradited as he must answer for crimes under criminal cases currently underway in Mexico.
According to Mexico's Defense Ministry, Guzman Lopez heads the youth wing of the Sinaloa Cartel and has criminal activities in several Mexico's states. He is the son of "El Chapo," the former leader of the cartel, who has been serving a life sentence in the United States since 2019.
Guzman Lopez is on the list of criminals to be extradited to the US, where he is accused of trafficking cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana.
Guzman Lopez was previously arrested in October 2019 but was released on the orders of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador following bloodshed in Culiacan organized by the cartel's members. The Mexican authorities then said that nine people had died and 23 had been wounded.
