10 cartel members linked to drug lord “El Chapo” caught in Mexico working with US intelligence.
The Mexican military has arrested three of the closest associates of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s brother in a unit backed by US intelligence, the military said Thursday.
Ten members of the Sinaloa cartel led by Aureliano Guzman Loera, known as “El Guano,” were captured in the operation.
The raid was carried out with intelligence assistance provided by the US, the military said.
The arrest took place in Tamazula, a mountainous town near the border between the states of Durango and Sinaloa where “El Guano” exerts his greatest influence.
Among those arrested are Aureliano’s “right-hand man,” Guzman, a senior bodyguard, and a financial and logistical assistant, the defense secretary said in a statement.
Mexican marines supported by helicopters were deployed in December in the same area in another operation to kidnap Aureliano Guzman, according to local reporters. The US State Department has issued a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
US State Department
Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is serving a life sentence in the United States, where his two sons are also awaiting trial.
His allies created a war for control of the Sinaloa cart against the groups arrested with Ismael Zambada, the founder of this group who is also awaiting trial in the United States.
A military raid on the mountainous area where “El Chapo” was hiding took place in between tensions between Mexico and the United States for the presence of two American agents in an anti-drug operation carried out without the express approval of the administration of President Claudia Sheinbaum. I US diplomats were killed and two Mexican officials e car wreck following a raid on a secret drug lab.
The two Americans who died in the crash were employees of the Central Intelligence Agency, multiple people familiar with the matter told CBS News. The CIA declined to comment.
Sheinbaum has repeatedly rejected military aid offered by President Donald Trump to fight the cartels.
The Mexican leader said support from Washington should be limited to intelligence sharing, while banning local actions with foreign agents without permission from the federal government.
Sheinbaum said Wednesday he was considering possible sanctions against the state of Chihuahua – a state bordering Texas – for allowing CIA agents to take part in the operation.
The US ambassadors were killed by “police officers” who were “conducting a training exercise” as part of the cooperation between the fight against drugs, state prosecutor Cesar Jauregui told the press. Jauregui called the targeted labs “one of the largest facilities in the country where chemical drugs are produced.”
American Ambassador Ronald Johnson expressed his sadness on social media, but he and other officials gave few details about the incident.
Mexico has announced the dismantling of dozens of drug labs in recent months after Mr. Trump has threatened that the military may take action to stop drug trafficking. In February, Mexican naval personnel found a hidden drug laboratory in the Durango region of the country and “neutralized” it. 5,000 pounds of methamphetamine.
