Mexico Blackmailed into Releasing Captured Drug Lord
Mexican security forces on Thursday stormed Culiacán to capture Ovidio Guzmán López, son of notorious drug lord “El Chapo” (Joaquín Guzmán).
Ovidio was captured during an hours-long shootout that caused panic throughout the city, with cartel members engaging in more than 70 separate fights with law enforcement.
Members of the Sinaloa cartel attacked army barracks, government buildings, and gas stations, set fire to vehicles, and conducted a jailbreak that freed 55 inmates.
“The criminal organization’s ability to call on its members and power of response was underestimated,” noted Mexican Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval.
As the fight dragged on, authorities decided to release Ovidio to prevent further harm – prompting critics to accuse the government and police of being influenced by cartels.
“The capture of a criminal cannot be worth more than the lives of the people,” said Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in response to the criticism. “Many citizens, people, human beings were at risk.”
The battle, which resulted in seven deaths, was the third major fight of the week. At least 13 police officers were killed Monday during a clash with the Jalisco cartel and 15 people died Tuesday during a shootout in Guerrero.
Thursday’s operation was launched after a judge’s order demanded Ovidio be extradited to the United States, where he and one of his brothers face charges of conspiracy to distribute illicit drugs. Ovidio and his brothers are believed to have taken on key roles in the cartel following their father’s extradition to the US in 2017. El Chapo was sentenced to life in prison earlier this year.
In the meantime, homicides in Mexico are on pace to reach a record high of 37,000 for 2019. To compare: the United States has roughly 15,000 homicides each year with a population three times that of Mexico.
“[President] López Obrador was confident his call for peace and love – and not going after narcos – would lower violence,” says analyst Raúl Benitez, referring to a policy that focuses on reducing poverty rather than attacking cartels. “It shows the peace-and-love strategy is not working.”
Even worse, releasing Ovidio sends a clear message to other cartels that officials will surrender in the face of widespread violence.
Editor’s note: This shows the degree to which Mexico has become a narco trafficker empire.
To stop the illegal drugs and the illegal immigrants coming into this country from Mexico, the United States would have to invade Mexico after stopping all financial aid, all commerce and all the tourism trade with Mexico. The only way to stop the drug cartels is to defeat them by killing all those involved. The Mexican government at this time does not have the desire or guts to do this. Why we keep funding a country that sends us so many different kinds of illegal problems and refuses to clean it’s own house, is beyond me. Democrats love the illegality of what is going on because they want the downfall of the United States just like Mexico and the Cartels. God Bless America.
Exactly Bob, 1000 Tomahawk missiles, 2 weeks of Airstrikes and we would be in and out in 90 days at worst. The best thing is they have no loyalty and everyone would sell each other out in seconds. It wouldn’t be more than a quick military exercise. The President should give the President of Mexico 30 days to hand over the brothers or we will start at the top and clean out that toilet bowl. Then we can put Hilary, Bill and Bernie in charge of Mexico (the new trilateral), she can bring the Russians over and Bernie can give them everything for free and we will rename Mexico Hellexico.
Why we haven’t done this years ago tells me the CIA and other groups have their hand in the drug cookie jar.
Kind of radical there wouldn’t you say?
Bob, pretty brutal, but I’m thinking you still wouldn’t solve the problem. If you think of normal business as supply and demand, illegal drugs are a “hyperbolic” supply and demand curve, since durgs are addictive. You only have to sell the first time, thereafter the customer comes back to you with hard motivation. This means that even if you kill all of the bad guys in Mexico, the addicts that already exist will demand a new supply, and whoever supplies will be very rich (i.e. the other side of the hyper supply demand curve).
I’m not opposed to killing all of those assholes, but that is the beginning of cleaning up the problem, not the end.
An extension of your though is the American Politician. They don’t want the flow of drugs to stop. Why, its big business and they make graft from big business. So the only wan to stop illegal drugs is to eliminate the reason for the drugs in the first place, get rid of the users.. Then get rid of the suppliers, and those that support the industry. Do you have any idea of what illegal drugs cost this country every year?
What did the demacratic party ever do for the american people, also, what did the Clintens do for us!!???