Mexico captures Ovidio Guzmán, son of El Chapo and major fentanyl trafficker

MEXICO CITY — The Mexican army on Thursday captured an alleged major fentanyl trafficker and son of notorious kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, just days before President Biden is scheduled to make his first visit to Mexico, according to local media.

The arrest was confirmed by a senior Mexican security official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in advance of an official announcement.

The arrest in Culiacan came three years after a humiliating episode in which the Mexican army detained the younger Guzmán but then released him after Sinaloa cartel gunmen seized control of much of that city. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who had taken office in 2018 pledging to replace the “war on drugs” with a policy using social programs to tackle organized crime, was widely criticized for giving up the alleged trafficker.