MEXICO CITY _ Gun battles erupted across the northern Mexican city of Culiacan on Thursday amid reports that the federal government had captured Ovidio Guzman Lopez, a leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel and the son of notorious drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.
Videos taken by journalists and civilians showed men in masks firing high-powered weapons on major city streets and a truck circulating with what appeared to be a large machine gun bolted to the back.
Warnings spread on social media urging people to stay indoors. The online news site Riodoce reported that gunmen had blocked entrances to the city with burning vehicles.
Televisa news anchor Denise Maerker said authorities confirmed to her that the 28-year-old Guzman had been detained at 3:30 p.m. by members of the army and Mexico's newly formed national guard.
State and federal authorities told the Los Angeles Times they could not verify that information.
Guzman sought to take control of the Sinaloa cartel along with his older brother, Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, after their father was captured and extradited to the United States in 2017. This year, their father was sentenced to life in prison on drug trafficking and conspiracy charges.
But the Guzman sons, known here as "Los Chapitos," have faced competition from Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, a co-founder of the cartel who has reportedly sought to oust them.
The Sinaloa cartel, long the most powerful in Mexico, has also faced challenges from the emergent Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which is suspected in the ambush and killing of 14 police officers in the state of Michoacan on Monday.
