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Mexican soldiers captured three of the closest allies of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s brother in an operation backed by U.S. intelligence, the military said Thursday.
Ten members of the faction of the Sinaloa cartel led by Aureliano Guzman Loera, known as “El Guano,” were captured in the operation.
The raid was carried out with intelligence provided by the U.S., the military said.
The detentions took place in Tamazula, a mountainous village near the border between the states of Durango and Sinaloa where “El Guano” exercised his greatest influence.
Among the detained were Aureliano’s Guzman’s “right-hand man,” chief bodyguard, and financial and logistical aide, the defense secretary said in a statement.
Mexican marines supported by helicopters had deployed in December to the same region on another operation to try and capture Aureliano Guzman, according to local journalists. The U.S. State Department has offered a reward of $5 million for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
U.S. Department of State
Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is carrying out a life sentence in the United States, where two of his sons are also awaiting trial.
His associates have unleashed a war over control of the Sinaloa cartel against factions tied to Ismael Zambada, the cofounder of the group who is also awaiting trial in the United States.
The military raid in the mountainous sierra where “El Chapo” used to hide took place amid tensions between Mexico and the United States over the presence of two U.S. agents in an anti-narcotics operation carried out without the apparent approval of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration. The U.S. agents were killed alongside two Mexican officials in a car crash following a raid on a clandestine drug lab.
The two Americans who died in the crash were employees of the Central Intelligence Agency, multiple people familiar with the matter told CBS News. The CIA declined to comment.
Sheinbaum has repeatedly rejected military aid offered by President Donald Trump to combat cartels.
The Mexican leader said that support from Washington should be limited to intelligence sharing, while prohibiting on-the-ground actions with foreign agents without authorization from the federal government.
Sheinbaum said Wednesday that she is considering possible sanctions against the government of Chihuahua — a state bordering Texas — for allowing the CIA agents to participate in the operation.
The U.S. agents killed were “instructor officers” who “were carrying out training tasks” as part of binational anti-drug cooperation, state prosecutor Cesar Jauregui told reporters. Jauregui called the targeted labs “one of the largest sites found in the country where chemical drugs were produced.”
U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson expressed his condolences on social media but he and other officials provided few details of the incident.
Mexico has announced the dismantling of numerous drug labs in recent months after Mr. Trump threatened possible military action to curb drug trafficking. In February, Mexican naval personnel discovered a hidden drug laboratory in the country’s Durango region and “neutralized” over 5,000 pounds of methamphetamine.
