- The Mexican government released a video of the moment it tried to arrest El Chapo’s son Ovidio Guzmán López in northern Mexico on October 17
- Guzmán López is led out of him home by soldiers and is told to call his brother, Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, to stop the attacks around Culiacán
- After being placed on his knees, he calls his brother who refuses to stop the attacks launched in response to his brother’s house being surrounded
- The gun battle left at least 13 people dead and Guzmán López was eventually released by security forces so his brother would end the bloodshed
The Mexico government has released video of the moment Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán’s son was detained outside his home in Culiacán, placed on his knees and told to call his brother and stop a counterattack by armed cartel members on soldiers around the city.
Video of the failed arrest of drugs lord Ovidio Guzmán López was revealed by Mexico’s Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval on Wednesday — an incident that has embarrassed the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
In the footage, Guzmán is shown surrounded by soldiers with one telling him to call his brother, Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, the leader of Los Chapitos wing of the Sinaloa Cartel, and tell him to stop the gun battle he launched in response to his brother’s house being surrounded.
‘Tell them to stop everything,’ a soldier says as the sound of high-powered artillery rattles away in the background.
‘Stop this, stop this. I already turned myself in,’ Guzmán can be heard telling his brother on the phone.
Archivaldo responded ‘no’ and shouted threats against the soldiers and their families. The attacks continued and eight minutes later the first wounded soldiers were reported.
Towards the end of the video, Guzmán begs his brother: ‘Please tell them to stop. Relax. Tell them to retreat. But just tell them. I don’t want there to be any more chaos, please.’
Armed cartel members then surround the residence, while gun battles raged around Culiacán, causing widespread public panic.
Later that afternoon, police withdrew from the residence having released Guzmán in exchange for a ceasefire.
Thirteen people were killed in the bloodshed.
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