Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, one of the leading leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel and the infamous Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, managed to escape during the period of the National Guard's deployment in the colony Tierra-Blanca in Culiacán, Sinaloa. Preliminary information suggests that Guzmán Salazar was able to hide through a tunnel located in a house on the private street Artesanos, residentially situated between the avenues Teyente-Huan-de-la-Barretera and Central. The tunnel connected two neighboring houses, which facilitated his escape.
"The operation also led to the confiscation of non-scheduled assets," official sources reported. José Ángel, known as "El Güerito", suggested being held accountable for planning routes for distributing fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine at the international level, was arrested. Local residents of Culiacán suggest that Iván Archivaldo Guzmán may have sustained injuries during his escape, while other sources claim that he had already been detained by military forces.
The Tierra-Blanca colony in Culiacán is under the epicenter of a major operation involving the Mexican Armed Forces, the national guard, the Mexican Army and the Ministry of Public Safety and Citizen Protection, both from the land and the air. This episode occurred just hours after American quadcopters violated Mexican airspace in an operation to intercept communications from criminal organizations in this region.
Conflicts between criminal groups Los Mayos and Los Chapitos, rumored to have been heightened due to the transfer of Ismail 'El Mayo' Zambada to the U.S. on July 25, 2024, led to an increase in the violence level in Culiacán, Sinaloa.
