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The wave of violence that swept through the city of Culiacán shocked not only Mexico, but also the whole world. On the eve of Joe Biden's visit to the summit of North American leaders, the drug mafia carried out a real massacre in Culiacán in the northwest of the country.
Drug “Cactus”
In the first week of January, Mexican law enforcers apprehended a gangster nicknamed Mouse aka Ovidio Guzmán López. In response, the Mexican drug mafia waged a real street war in the state capital, Sinaloa, destroying more than 250 cars, killing 29 people in the shootings.
Ovidio is the son of Joaquin Guzmán Loero, aka El Chapo (which means “Shorty” in Spanish), Mexico's most notorious drug dealer. U.S. authorities charged Ovidio and his brother Joaquin with involvement in the contract killings of police informants and smugglers. But most importantly, the Mafiosi are accused of having 11 laboratories that produce 1,300 to 2,200 kilograms of methamphetamine a month, which is then exported to the United States. Earlier, U.S. authorities had promised $5 million for information about the whereabouts of the man they called “the leader of the Sinaloa cartel.” According to Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, the U.S. arrest warrant issued for the gangster was dated as far back as September 19, 2019. It is only now that the reward has found the hero.
In 2009, Forbes included Shorty, the head of Mexico's largest drug cartel, which is also called Sinaloa, in its ranking of the richest, estimating his fortune at $ 1 billion.
The state of Sinaloa with a population of 2.7 million people is located in northwestern Mexico. The capital of the state is the city of Culiacan with a population of more than 600 thousand people.
Sinaloa became widely known both in Mexico and outside the country in the early 2000s, after the drug mafia became active in the state. Joaquin Guzmán Loera, nicknamed Shorty, created the Sinaloa cartel in the late 1980s, after “gaining experience” in the service of another prominent Mexican drug lord, Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, who, incidentally, is serving a 37-year prison sentence, he was caught in 1989.
As can be easily guessed, the Sinaloa cartel, led by Shorty, earned a fortune on the massive supply of drugs to the United States. The land route from Culiacán to the U.S. Tucson (Arizona) is more than 1,000 km and to the Texas border even farther. As we can see, the Mexican gangsters are not deterred by that. They faithfully supply the United States with drugs. It is estimated that Sinaloa provides up to a quarter of the cocaine supply to the United States. The main channels of supply are through the U.S. - Mexican border in the region of Arizona and Texas.
Next to Al Capone
Recently, the head of the cartel himself, Joaquin Guzmán Loera, nicknamed Shorty, has been serving a life sentence in prison. The police have detained him more than once, and he has even managed to escape from a Mexican prison twice. In January 2016, a squad of Marines was sent to apprehend El Chapo, who once again escaped. The escaped mobster was apprehended in the town of Los Mochis in his home state of Sinaloa.
In January 2017, Shorty was extradited to the United States, where he faced a jury trial. On July 17, 2019, a federal court in Brooklyn sentenced Joaquin Guzman Loer to life in prison (and without parole!) after a jury found him guilty on all 10 counts in February of that year. The specificity of American justice is such that in addition to a life sentence, Guzmán got another 30 years in prison and confiscation of property.
In particular, Guzmán was found guilty of smuggling 155 tons of cocaine, as well as methamphetamines and marijuana into the United States. For the first time since such a murderous gangster as Al Capone, the Chicago Criminal Commission named Guzmán “Public Enemy No. 1.”
Despite the boss-in-chief's jail term, the Sinaloa cartel continues to operate, supplying drugs to the United States on an industrial scale.
We are Power
Mexican authorities are also not abandoning their attempts to crack down on criminal activity. On January 6, Mexican police detained Ovidio Guzmán, who remained on duty after Shorty was sent to prison. The Mexican drug cartel responded with an old trick. Mafiosi set cars on fire and blocked the streets, engaged in shootouts with police, attacked an Air Force base and the Bachigalato Federal International Airport, located in Culiacán.
During the street battles, the bandits burned about 250 cars and killed 10 police officers. True, the police and military retaliatory fire killed 19 “soldiers” of the Sinaloa drug cartel. The Mexican authorities introduced army units and special forces into the state of Sinaloa, the military and police conduct ground and air patrols, and the local residents are strictly ordered not to leave their homes.
Not least, the drug mafia wanted to show that they “are the power there.” Mexico is a very poor country, where corruption is rampant. Shorty managed to escape twice, not because he is such an outstanding Count of Monte Cristo, but because he simply bribed dozens of prisoners and police officers. That is why in many cities and even states it is not known who the real power is – the mayor with the police or the drug mafia.
More importantly, the Sinaloa bosses have launched a wave of violence in the hope that the old trick will work. After police apprehended Ovidio Guzmán in 2019, drug dealers gave law enforcement officers a fight right on the streets of Culiacán, killing nine people and wounding 23. Then the authorities backed down, with Mexican President Manuel López Obrador personally ordering the special operation to be halted and the drug dealer released to stop the bloodshed.
This time the trick didn't work. The cops still handcuffed Ovidio Guzmán and escorted the mobster to jail. Was it a victory? It turned out not to be. The day after his arrest, a federal judge in Mexico City ruled that Guzmán Jr.'s extradition to the United States be halted. To be fair, even if Ovidio Guzmán is at least three times the toughest Mafioso, American authorities have no right to demand his extradition if he is not a U.S. citizen. But, in practice, there are forces that do not follow the law. In general, the story with the extradition and conviction of the head of the Sinaloa drug cartel is far from over.
From the point of view of big politics, this whole story looks like the Mexican authorities wanted to curtsy in front of US President Joe Biden, who is supposed to arrive to Mexico City for the Summit of North American Leaders any day now. So, Mexico City showed Washington that it was ready to take American worries to heart. Big politics has crossed over to the drug mafia.