Ovidio Guzmán, one of the sons of drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán who was captured earlier this month in a gunfight between hundreds of his henchmen and the Mexican army, was ready for war.
“Inside Ovidio Guzmán’s bedroom alone, we found 47 weapons, including some very high-power weapons and anti-aircraft guns. These types of guns can’t be sold at any store, so we are finding out who sold them [to Guzmán],” Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said during a congress meeting on Monday.
Ebrard said that most of the weapons seized inside Guzmán’s house were traced back to the same U.S. gun manufacturers sued last year by the Mexican government. He blamed them for “arming these individuals,” in reference to Guzmán and his foot soldiers.
Guzmán was captured by the Mexican army on Jan. 5 in the small town of Jesús María, 40 kilometers north of Culiacán, Sinaloa, after a gunfight that lasted for more than 10 hours and left at least 29 people dead, according to official and local residents versions.
The minister pointed specifically to ten U.S. counties, mostly in Texas and Arizona, as the main places from where guns seized in Mexico were traced back to: Maricopa and Pima in Arizona; Harris, Dallas, El Paso, Bexar and Orange in Texas; Hartford in Connecticut; Hampden in Massachusetts; and Los Angeles in California.
Guzmán’s capture prompted a violent response from hundreds of his henchmen, who mounted highway blockades setting vehicles on fire and even shot at several airplanes departing from the local airport, according to news reports.
Known as ‘El Ratón’ [the mouse], Guzmán, 32, is the youngest of El Chapo’s the sons to form part of the “Los Chapitos” (Little Chapos) faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. The U.S. was offering $5 million for his capture.
Guzmán was captured in his state-of-the-art ranch, where he had gathered his three daughters, his wife and his mother for a holiday celebration. The property had four bedrooms, a large circle bathtub and a walk-in closet the size of a regular room.
Guzmán’s house was ransacked during his capture. Inside, the bloods were smeared with blood, the walls and ceilings peppered with bullet holes. Several unexploded grenades lay around days after the raid to capture him.
The three of “Los Chapitos” who remain at large are Iván Archivaldo, Jesús Alfredo, and Joaquín, currently share control of the SInaloa Cartel with other factions, one headed by Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, one of the original founders of the organization, and another by Aureliano Guzmán, also known as “El Guano”, who is El Chapo’s brother.
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