Image taken on January 8, 2016 shows members of the security forces escorting Joaquin Guzman Loera, alias “El Chapo”, upon his arrival at the Attorney General’s Office, in Mexico City, capital of Mexico.
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Jalisco Attorney General Eduardo Almaguer earlier told Radio Formula that “it is presumed”, though not yet certain, that Ivan Archivaldo Guzman was among those kidnapped around 1 a.m.at La Leche restaurant on the city’s main boulevard by five gunmen.
“A person by the name of Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, 29-years-old, is the son of Joaquin Guzman Loera”.
The gunmen detained six men and nine women, but the women were later released, restaurant employees said.
The Sinaloa cartel, sometimes referred to by Mexican officials as the Pacific cartel, is the oldest drug cartel in Mexico.
A senior Mexican law enforcement says police are now searching for the kidnapped men in Michoacán, Nayarit, Jalisco and a fourth state he did not name.
Jesus Alfredo Guzman, 29, was born during Guzman’s first marriage.
The authorities initially said 10 to 12 people had been kidnapped, but after analyzing security camera footage and interviewing witnesses, they said there were in fact six men abducted.
Police sources told InSight Crime that authorities are actively investigating leads that the kidnapping is related to the ongoing battle between the powerful Sinaloa Cartel and the dominant criminal organization in that area, the Jalisco Cartel – New Generation (CJNG).
No one has contacted Mexican authorities to report the men missing, and authorities have not heard from the kidnappers, Almaguer said.
Prosecutors said initial evidence suggested a rival cartel called Jalisco New Generation was behind the abduction. Meanwhile, Pablo Badillo, attorney for the Guzman family said it was “very likely” that Archivaldo was kidnapped from the restaurant.
Their father, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, is in jail fighting extradition to the United States.
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Experts said before the news conference that Ivan Archivaldo Guzman had reportedly been running roughshod over allies in his father’s business.
