Son of Mexican Drug Lord "El Chapo" Arrested

Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval informed reporters that Ovidio Guzman, also known as "El Raton" (The Mouse), was apprehended in the northwest city of Culiacan and transported to Mexico City on a military aircraft.

He claimed that six months of intelligence effort were put into finding the 32-year-old, who is supposed to have assisted in managing his father's operations ever since "El Chapo" was deported to the US in 2017.

"El Chapo" is currently incarcerated for life in the US for smuggling hundreds of tons of cocaine into the country over 25 years.

Ovidio Guzman was alleged to be a key member of the famed Sinaloa cartel, and the United States had offered a reward of up to $5 million for information that would result in his detention.

Ovidio’s arrest comes as Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gets ready to host Biden next week for a North American leaders' conference in Mexico City, where security is anticipated to be a top priority.

According to Ruben Rocha, governor of Sinaloa state, the violence resulted in the cancellation of sporting events in Culiacan and at least 18 injuries.

After the arrest, gunfire, and arson erupted in Culiacan and a passenger plane was shot in its fuselage as it was getting ready to take off from Culiacan airport when Guzman's goons reacted angrily. According to the carrier Aeromexico, no one was hurt.

His cartel is still among the most powerful in Mexico, but Washington accuses it of using the opioid crisis as cover to saturate neighborhoods with fentanyl, a synthetic drug that is approximately 50 times more potent than heroin.

Since the government controversially sent the army to battle drug cartels in 2006, Mexico has recorded more than 340,000 homicides, the majority of which have been attributed to criminal groups.