Mexican Lawmakers Agree To Revise Security Strategy After Failed Operation In Sinaloa

MEXICO CITY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2019) Mexican lawmakers, together with Security and Public Protection Secretary, Alfonso Durazo, agreed to reconsider the national security strategy in the wake of an unsuccessful operation to capture a son of a jailed drug lord, which sparked deadly street clashes, in the Sinaloa state, a live broadcast from the upper house showed.

On Thursday, security officers captured Ovidio Guzman Lopez, one of the sons of drug lord Joaquin Guzman Loera, also known as El Chapo, in the Sinaloa state where the same name cartel, formerly led by the drug lord, operates. The security officers were subsequently surrounded by the cartel members which de facto forced them to let Guzman Lopez, who currently has a key role in the cartel's leadership, free. The situation provoked gun battles between the law enforcement officers and criminal gangs across the city of Culiacan. The authorities said that nine people were killed and 23 others sustained injuries. Moreover, 55 inmates fled a local jail amid the turmoil. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has acknowledged that the operation to capture Guzman Lopez, who goes by the Names of El Raton (Mouse) and El Raton Nuevo (New Mouse), failed.

"The revision of the strategy is not very costly. We need to use more intelligence data and have a better coordination between agencies, particularly in everything that concerns operative actions, which should be precise and have required support and should not put civilians, law enforcement officers, pilots and police, who are the ones most insecure in this situation, at risk," the upper house lawmaker, David Monreal Avila, said during the session held on Friday.

Jose Luis Gonzalez Meza, a lawyer of Guzman Loera's family, told Sputnik in a phone call that the family welcomed a "humane for all citizens" decision of the president to release Guzman Lopez.

News about the failed operation became high-profile across Mexico.

The opposition and several public figures claimed that it led to the "loss of statehood" and accused the authorities of colluding with the criminals.

However, the authorities said that they had to let Guzman Lopez go in order to protect lives.

Guzman Lopez, 28, is wanted in the United States on various drug-related charges. His father faced several court trials but repeatedly managed to escape justice. However, he was captured in 2016 and extradited to the United States in 2017. In July, a US Federal judge sentenced him to life in prison plus 30 years on various charges related to his leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel.