A new video released by the Mexican government revealed the moment when tactical police officers gave El Chapo’s son a cell phone and begged him to tell his gunmen to stand down.
“Buddy, tell them to stop everything,” an officer can be heard in the video released during Wednesday’s morning news conference by Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) and his top military advisors.
The video comes in the wake of widespread criticism against Mexico’s handling of a failed military operation aimed at arresting Ovidio “El Raton” Guzman, a son of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. After arresting the younger Guzman, who is wanted in the U.S. on drug trafficking charges, Mexican authorities released him after his allies unleashed terror in Culiacan.
The cartel gunmen quickly overpowered security and military forces while kidnapping soldiers and threatening to murder military families as leverage for the release of Ovidio.
“Stop everything, stop everything–I turned myself in,” the younger Guzman says in the video. “I don’t want any more trouble please.”
Despite the call, gunmen continued to pressure the federal government until they released the Guzman heir. While claiming he did not give the order, AMLO publicly said he supports the decision made by his staff since it was intended to save lives.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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