Soldiers attacked, roads blocked with burning vehicles in Mexican cartel stronghold

Mexican authorities reported Thursday that there have been attacks on military personnel and roads have been blocked with vehicles in the northern state of Sinaloa.

State police said the violence broke out in an area just north of the state capital, Culiacan. The state is home to the drug cartel of the same name and violence has broken out in the past when a cartel leader has been arrested.

However, federal authorities said they had no information about such an arrest at this time.

Local media showed images of burning vehicles blocking roads.

“We are aware that military personnel have been attacked,” Sinaloa state police wrote on their social media accounts. “We are also aware that roads have been blocked by vehicles.”

Governor Rubén Rocha wrote that the attackers had set fire to two vehicles “with the aim of blocking the authorities.” He called for calm, but did not specify the motive for the attack or whether there were casualties.

Roadblocks were later reported in another district where Ovidio Guzman, son of an imprisoned drug lord, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmanwas arrested in January 2023 and subsequently extradited to the United States.

Local media showed videos and photos of the vehicles in flames, a tactic often used by cartels in Mexico to prevent police or military units from reaching a certain area.

In another post on social media, police said authorities had removed vehicles from a highway near the community of Limón de Los Ramos.

Despite the chaos, Sinaloa’s education minister issued a statement Thursday night saying classes would continue as scheduled on Friday.

Cartel leaders arrested in US

There are fears that more violence could erupt in Sinaloa following the recent arrests of top leaders of the Sinaloa cartel in the US.

End of July, Joaquin Guzman Lopezone of El Chapo’s sons, apparently kidnapped Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada – an older drug lord from a rival faction of the cartel – forced him onto a plane and flew him north.

The younger Guzmán apparently planned to turn himself in and took the older Zambada with him for unknown reasons.

Earlier this month, federal prosecutors a statement issued and said that “an arrest warrant had been prepared” against Guzmán for kidnapping.

Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office on Thursday called on U.S. authorities to “urgently” clarify the legal status and whereabouts of Ovidio Guzman, a prosecutor who said his case is linked to Zambada’s kidnapping.

A statement said Ovidio Guzman was released from U.S. prison on July 23, two days before the arrests of his brother and Zambada.

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar said on July 26 that Ovidio Guzman remains in U.S. custody, without providing details about his whereabouts.

Experts, including former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Mike Vigil, suspect that Guzman turned Lopez Zambada in exchange for benefits for himself and his brother Ovidio.

Zambada appeared in a wheelchair in Texas court this month and pleaded not guilty to charges of drug trafficking, money laundering and conspiracy to commit murder.

Guzman Lopez was transferred to Chicago, where he denied drug trafficking charges.

Only one of El Chapo’s sons accused of cartel ties remains at large: Ivan Archivaldo.

The United States has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture.

AFP contributed to this report.