Sinaloa Cartel gunmen fired at commercial airliners with the hope of forcing the release of one of the sons of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, presuming he is still alive in police custody.
The terror-style attack took place on Thursday morning at the Culiacan International Airport when an Aeromexico passenger jet was moving down a runway for take-off.
The incident came hours after Mexican authorities carried out an operation against Ovidio “El Raton” Guzman, the son of El Chapo and one of the leaders of the Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. Ovidio was either arrested or killed. Mexican authorities are expected to provide an update later Thursday.
A video shared on social media captured the moment when Sinaloa Cartel hitmen unleash machine guns at the aircraft while authorities take cover.
#Culiacanazo
Una situación nunca vista en #Mexico… fue en el Aeropuerto de #Culiacan #Sinaloa pic.twitter.com/SclVy7ceB2— María (@marychuyglez) January 5, 2023
Federal authorities say the gunmen managed to hit the fuselage. All flights were grounded in Culiacan shortly thereafter.
Another video captured the moment when terrified passengers huddled inside the aircraft.
Video desde un avión comercial en #Sinaloa del operativo “perfecto” en el que inocentes salieron heridos por la captura de #OvidioGuzman pic.twitter.com/nqDdkdU8E7
— Gildo Garza (@GildoGarzaMx) January 5, 2023
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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