Mexican drug cartel stronghold rattled by shootings, roadblocks

This handout photo released by Sinaloa’s Secretary of Security shows burned trucks blocking a highway during heavy gunfights on the outskirts of Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Mexico on Thursday, August 29, 2024. – Shootings, roadblocks and burning vehicles were reported on Thursday in the Mexican city of Culiacán (northwest), the center of operations of the Sinaloa drug cartel, according to reports from authorities and local media. (Photo by Sinaloa’s Secretary of Security / Agence France-Presse)

CULIACÁN, Mexico — Gunfire, roadblocks, and arson shook a Mexican city that is home to one of the country’s most powerful drug cartels, authorities and local media said.

Vehicles were set on fire Thursday in Culiacan, capital of the northwestern state of Sinaloa – the bastion of jailed drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and his sons.

Gunmen attacked a military patrol on the outskirts of the city, the Sinaloa state security secretariat reported on social media.

Roadblocks were later reported in another district where Ovidio Guzman, one of El Chapo’s sons, was arrested in January 2023 before being extradited to the United States.

READ: Mexico drug cartel leader lured onto airplane before arrest in US

The unrest, as well as a string of recent murders in Sinaloa, follow the dramatic arrest on US soil of a Sinaloa drug cartel boss in circumstances worthy of a crime thriller.

Cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada claimed in a statement released through his lawyer that he had been kidnapped in Mexico and delivered into US custody against his will.

Zambada, 76, was detained on July 25 along with Joaquin Guzman Lopez, another son of El Chapo, who is serving a life sentence in the United States.

Only one of El Chapo’s sons accused of cartel links remains free – Ivan Archivaldo.

The United States has offered a reward $10 million for information leading to his arrest.

Joaquin Guzman Lopez is accused by Mexican prosecutors of kidnapping Zambada and taking him on a private plane across the border.

A member of the state police stands guard at the Municipal Police headquarters where several of its elements were arrested on alleged charges of belonging to a gang of kidnappers in Taxco de Alarcon, Guerrero state, Mexico on Thursday, August 29, 2024. – The Attorney General’s Office reported in a statement that combined units of the Army, National Guard, and State Police carried out the military operation and rescued a person kidnapped inside the facilities of the Municipal Police. (Photo by Francisco ROBLES / Agence France-Presse)

Mexico’s state prosecutor’s office on Thursday urged US authorities to “urgently” clarify the legal status and whereabouts of Ovidio Guzman, suggesting his case was linked to Zambada’s abduction.

READ: Mexico’s president downplays drug cartel violence

It said in a statement that Ovidio Guzman was taken out of US prison on July 23, two days before the arrest of his brother and Zambada.

The US ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, said on July 26 that Ovidio Guzman remained in US custody without elaborating on his whereabouts.

Experts, including former US Drug Enforcement Administration agent Mike Vigil, suspect that Guzman Lopez gave up Zambada in exchange for benefits for himself and his brother Ovidio.

Zambada appeared in a Texas court this month in a wheelchair and pleaded not guilty to charges of drug trafficking, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder.

Guzman Lopez was transferred to Chicago where he denied drug trafficking charges.