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OP
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For some:
CULIACAN, Mexico — Mexican security forces aborted an attempt to capture a son of imprisoned drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman after finding themselves outgunned in a ferocious shootout with cartel henchmen that left at least eight people dead and more than 20 wounded, authorities said Friday.
The gunbattle Thursday paralyzed the capital of Mexico’s Sinaloa state, Culiacan, and left the streets littered with burning vehicles. Residents took cover indoors as automatic gunfire raged outside.
It was the third bloody and terrifying shootout in less than a week between security forces and cartel henchmen, raising questions about whether President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s policy of avoiding the use of force and focusing on social ills is working.
López Obrador defended the decision to back down, saying his predecessors’ strategy “turned this country into a cemetery, and we don’t want that anymore.”
But Mike Vigil, a former chief of international operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration who worked undercover in Mexico, called the violence “a massive black eye to the Mexican government” and a “sign that the cartels are more powerful” than it is.
Streets in Culiacan, a city of over 800,000, remained blocked with torched cars Friday morning, schools were closed, and some public offices asked their employees to stay home. Few buses were running.
Teresa Mercado, who had just returned to her native Culiacan on Thursday, said: “This is worse than what I had lived through years ago.”
Authorities said 35 troops arrived at a home Thursday afternoon to arrest Ovidio Guzmán López on a 2018 extradition request from the U.S. They entered the home, where Guzman and three others were inside.
Heavily armed men in greater force surrounded the house and also unleashed mayhem elsewhere, taking over toll booths and main roads into the city. Men carrying high-caliber weapons blocked major intersections.
Amid the chaos, inmates at a prison rioted, seized weapons from guards and fled. Fifty-six prisoners escaped, and 49 were still at large Friday, according to Sinaloa Public Security Secretary Cristóbal Castañeda. Two guards were taken captive and later freed.
The attacks were so brazen that Sinaloa cartel gunmen took several soldiers hostage and even attacked the housing complex where soldiers’ wives and children live.
Defense Secretary Gen. Luis Cresencio Sandoval said “they did approach the housing complex, they entered the housing complex and opened fire on the housing complex, and they abducted a civilian security guard … and a soldier in civilian clothes who was returning from leave.”
Videos on social media showed a scene resembling a war zone, with gunmen, some in black ski masks, riding in the back of trucks and firing mounted machine guns as smoke rose above the cityscape. People ran for cover as gunfire rattled around them, and motorists drove frantically in reverse, trying to escape the bullets.
Five attackers, a member of the National Guard, a civilian and a prisoner died in the gun battles, Cresencio Sandoval said. He said seven members of the security forces were wounded and eight held captive before being released unharmed.
The government’s security cabinet made the decision to withdraw the troops to avoid greater loss of life.
“The capture of one criminal cannot be worth more than the lives of people. They made the decision and I supported it,” López Obrador said. He added: “We do not want deaths. We do not want war.”
Security cabinet officials said they were not informed about the operation beforehand. They said troops surrounded the house without a search warrant and came under fire before one could be delivered, at that point deciding to enter without the warrant. And they said the troops underestimated the cartel’s response.
Sandoval said that if the security cabinet had known about the operation, it would have gone about it differently and deployed more troops and even sent air support.
“This group … rushed things. It did not consider the consequences,” he said.
It was not clear what happened to Guzmán after the troops left. Federal Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo said he was never under formal detention.
José Luis González Meza, a lawyer for the Guzman family, said Friday that the Guzmán family would cover the expenses of those wounded and killed.
“In this case, the family apologizes to the people of Sinaloa, and particularly to the people of Culiacan,” González Meza told a news conference in Mexico City. “They will take care (of the expenses) of the wounded and the dead … however many there were, man, no problem, they will help them economically.”
Juan Pablo Badillo, a lawyer who represents the drug lord in Mexico, praised López Obrador, saying Ovidio Guzman was freed “by a manly order, an intelligent order, a sensible order from President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.”
José Reveles, the author of several books on the Sinaloa cartel, said the operation was done clumsily from both an operational and a political standpoint.
“If the government says it did not know anything, that’s absolutely unheard of, and especially for an operation of this magnitude,” Reveles said. “If you’re going to do an operation of this size, you should do it right — guard all flanks, add security in the prison.”
At the same time, he allowed that “doing a surgical operation there is impossible; the strength of the Sinaloa cartel was made clear.”
Vigil, the former DEA agent, worried that the retreat could lead to more bloodshed.
“This is going to set an example for the other groups,” Vigil said. “It sends them the message that if they capture a member of the cartel, all they have to do is go in the city and intimidate the citizenry and security forces.”
On Friday, the defense department announced it was flying two planeloads with 230 army special forces troops into Culiacan as reinforcements.
The elder Guzman is serving a life sentence in the U.S. after being convicted last February of industrial-scale drug trafficking.
Ovidio is not one of the drug lord’s best-known sons. Iván Archivaldo Guzmán and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán are known as “Los Chapitos,” or “the little Chapos,” and are believed to be running their father’s cartel together with Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
But Ovidio Guzmán was indicted in 2018 in Washington, along with a fourth brother, on charges of trafficking cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana.
Gun battles between gangs and security forces are relatively common in Mexico, but this week has seen three notable and frightening clashes. On Monday, 13 police officers were killed in a cartel ambush in the state of Michoacán, and the following day soldiers killed 14 gunmen while losing one of their own in neighboring Guerrero state.
Last edited by mudhen; 10/18/19.
Ben
Some days it takes most of the day for me to do practically nothing...
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
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No wonder why they keep coming. Leaving that hell to come here, we all would do the same exact thing.
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Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 44,578 Likes: 13
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 44,578 Likes: 13 |
No wonder why they keep coming. Leaving that hell to come here, we all would do the same exact thing. Where do you think they would go if they absolutely knew they would be repatriated to MX if they crossed into the US illegally? Let me help you with that... Nowhere.
Slaves get what they need. Free men get what they want. Rehabilitation is way overrated. Orwell wasn't wrong. GOA member disappointed NRA member 24HCF SEARCH
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Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Sep 2009
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They are bringing this crap to our country as we speak. I sure am glad to have them here.
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Joined: Feb 2006
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Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2006
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Latin America, a series of failed states.
Just down the road from The City of Lost Souls in the Land of the Blind. Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 40,179 |
Mike Vigil, a former chief of international operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration who worked undercover in Mexico, called the violence “a massive black eye to the Mexican government” and a “sign that the cartels are more powerful” than it is. the drug war is lost https://21stcenturywire.com/2016/07...-clinton-foundation-connected-bank-hsbc/
Son of a liberal: " What did you do in the War On Terror, Daddy?"
Liberal father: " I fought the Americans, along with all the other liberals."
MOLON LABE
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Campfire Member
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In Mexico i learned that the Government is the Cartel and the Cartel is the Government, its one and the same thing.
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Joined: Apr 2011
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Campfire Savant
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Campfire Savant
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 152,000 Likes: 24 |
Complete corruption there!
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 10,644 Likes: 1
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 10,644 Likes: 1 |
With total predictability, the report had to include a sensational and ill-defined reference to "high caliber weapons."
They do it every time.
Paul
Stupidity has its way, while its cousin, evil, runs rampant.
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...so, as I understand it, they captured Guzman, then let him go. Same method DA Krasner uses to fight crime in Philadelphia. Seems to be working beautifully.
"No good deed shall go unpunished!"
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Joined: Jun 2007
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jun 2007
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Real Mexican Roberto needs to go down there and do some confiscations or buy-backs. #non-illegalsmattertoo.
Last edited by IZH27; 10/19/19.
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Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 24,583 Likes: 18
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 24,583 Likes: 18 |
No wonder why they keep coming. Leaving that hell to come here, we all would do the same exact thing. WRONG - WE wouldn't put up with that sch-it in our towns . Some people will lay around taking a siesta's while their community is taken over by criminals who bring a little money into their community . As long as the brown local people are beneifitting a little from the money - everything is A-ok . Everybody wants to ride whitey's shirt-tail - no such thing as 'magic dirt' and that's a fact . ALL immigration of brown/black people has to stop 100% STOP this country is at a tipping point - don't think it's not and President Trump can't save it !!
PRESIDENT TRUMP 2024/2028 !!!!!!!!!!
Posted by Bristoe The people wringing their hands over Trump's rhetoric don't know what time it is in America.
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Campfire Tracker
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So what is the fix now if the cartels are more powerful than the gubermint?
If you find yourself in a hole....quit digging
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 56,184 Likes: 17 |
I am..........disturbed.
Concerning the difference between man and the jackass: some observers hold that there isn't any. But this wrongs the jackass. -Twain
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Campfire Tracker
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That's the difference between AMLO and Trump. AMLO doesn't understand that once you have lost the rule of law, it's over. Trump would have sent a division of tanks in the next day and wiped them out......
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Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2008
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I'm honestly surprised they could gather up enough military and LEOs who weren't on the cartel payroll to run an attempt like this...
"...the left considers you vermin, and they'll kill you given the chance..." Bristoe
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Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2008
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It was lost long ago....we have constantly tried to dry up the SUPPLY side of things, which can't be done due to corruption on both sides of the border...going all the way to the top. If we really wanted to wage war on drugs we would dry up the DEMAND side of the equation. Get rid of those who use it....but we aren't prepared to do that as a society.
"...the left considers you vermin, and they'll kill you given the chance..." Bristoe
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Joined: Sep 2014
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 21,899 Likes: 7 |
Well, they probably had the Navy/Marines. The Army/law enforcement are who notified the Cartel that the operation was happening.
Parents who say they have good kids..Usually don't!
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Joined: Jun 2006
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Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
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Are you sure this isn't fake news?...... How could this occur in a nation with such tight gun control laws ?.............. (insert sarcasm icon here).
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Joined: May 2004
Posts: 56,184 Likes: 17
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 56,184 Likes: 17 |
If we really wanted to wage war on drugs we would dry up the DEMAND side of the equation. Get rid of those who use it....but we aren't prepared to do that as a society.
"We" is a broad scope. I'm willing to do more than my share, gratis.
I am..........disturbed.
Concerning the difference between man and the jackass: some observers hold that there isn't any. But this wrongs the jackass. -Twain
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