Mexico arrests son of notorious drug kingpin 'El Chapo'

Mexican security forces on Thursday captured a son of jailed drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, scoring a high-profile win in the fight against powerful cartels days before US President Joe Biden visits.

Ovidio Guzman, nicknamed "El Raton" (The Mouse), was caught in the northwestern city of Culiacan and flown to Mexico City on a military plane, Defence Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval told reporters.

He said the arrest was the result of six months of intelligence work tracking down the 32-year-old, who has allegedly helped to run his father's operations since "El Chapo" was extradited to the United States in 2017.

The United States had offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to Ovidio Guzman's capture, accusing him of being a key player in the infamous Sinaloa cartel.

Gunfire and arson shook Culiacan after the arrest, which comes as Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador prepares to welcome Biden next week for a North America leaders' summit in Mexico City at which security is expected to be high on the agenda.

At least 18 people were injured in the violence, Sinaloa state governor Ruben Rocha said, while school classes were suspended and sporting events in Culiacan were cancelled.

As Guzman's henchmen reacted with fury, a passenger jet was hit by a bullet in its fuselage as it was preparing to take off from Culiacan airport, but there were no injuries, the airline Aeromexico said.

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"El Chapo" is serving a life prison sentence in the United States for trafficking hundreds of tons of drugs into the US over the course of 25 years.

However, his cartel remains one of the most powerful in Mexico, accused by Washington of exploiting an opioid epidemic by flooding communities with fentanyl, a synthetic drug about 50 times more potent than heroin.

Ovidio Guzman and one of his brothers are accused of overseeing nearly a dozen methamphetamine labs in Sinaloa as well as conspiring to distribute cocaine and marijuana, according to the US State Department.

He also allegedly ordered the murders of informants, a drug trafficker and a Mexican singer who refused to perform at his wedding, it said.

Ovidio Guzman was captured briefly once before in 2019, but security forces freed him after his cartel waged an all-out war in response.

Several people were killed on that occasion in Culiacan as gunmen launched a massive machine-gun assault, leaving the streets strewn with blazing vehicles.

A gang leader among the escapees was killed on Thursday in a shootout with security forces, authorities said.