Mexican Army v. Cartel Gunmen Shootouts Leaves 4 Dead in Hunt for El Chapo’s Brother

Four men died during a series of shootouts between military forces and cartel gunmen during an attempt to capture the brother of jailed cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. In the aftermath of the shootouts, the Mexican military claimed to have arrested a top enforcer, but their intended target eluded capture.

The violence began on Monday morning in the rural areas near Badiraguato, Sinaloa where military forces deployed convoys of soldiers and at least three helicopters in an attempt to capture Aureliano “El Guano” Guzman. El Guano is a top leader of the Sinaloa Cartel faction known as Gente Del Guano (GDG), Mexico’s Proceso reported.

The man known as El Guano leads one faction of the Sinaloa Cartel which continues to be the dominant criminal organization in Mexico and is currently blamed by the U.S. Department of Justice for a large part of the current fentanyl crisis. The U.S. government is actively offering a $5 million reward for information leading to El Guano’s capture.

The military forces soon began clashing with Sinaloa Cartel gunmen in a series of shootouts that lasted for hours and spread to surrounding areas. It was during those clashes, that four men died. According to Proceso, authorities have not confirmed the number of casualties in the shootouts.

By Monday night, the Mexican Army (SEDENA) confirmed the arrest of a man only identified as Luis “R8” N, who they claim was the head of security for El Guano.

The large-scale operation targeting El Guano follows a similar one in February where the elusive cartel boss also managed to escape.

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.