The Latest: Mexico says 8 died in Culiacan cartel clash

CULIACAN, Mexico (AP) — The Latest on violence in northern Mexico after an attempt to capture drug trafficker’s son (all times local):

9:10 a.m.

Mexican officials say eight people were killed in gunbattles in the Sinaloa state capital of Culiacan in what is being described as a failed operation to detain the son of convicted Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. 

Federal security officials said in a news conference Friday that those killed include one civilian, one member of the National Guard, one prisoner and five attackers. 


Officials said late Thursday that troops had come under fire from a house while on patrol and found Ovidio Guzmán López inside. But on Friday they said that it was an operation specifically intended to arrest him on a warrant issued by a judge for extradition to the United States. 

Officials say they pulled back when heavily armed cartel gunmen unleashed torrents of gunfire across the city.


7 a.m.

Mexican authorities say they backed off an attempt to capture a son of drug trafficker Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman after cartel gunmen shooting heavy weapons and burning vehicles that paralyzed the capital of Mexico’s Sinaloa state — apparently outgunning lawmen.

State security officials say 21 people were wounded and 27 inmates escaped a prison.

Mexican security secretary Alfonso Durazo says 30 members of the National Guard and army were patrolling in Culiacan when they were fired on from a house Thursday. They repelled the attack and inside the house found Ovidio Guzmán López, son of the convicted Sinaloa cartel boss.

The house was then surrounded by heavily armed gunmen who had “a greater force” and authorities decided to suspend the operation, Durazo said. He did not say if Ovidio Guzmán had been arrested or went free, but Durazo told Televisa late at night that security forces entered the house but left without him.
