Guatemala: Mauricio Lopez change version about El Chapo Guzman death

Interior Minister Lopez, recants version about El Chapo

Guatemala- Interior Minister Mauricio Lopez, recanted his version about the death, in a clash with the police of two suspected drug traffickers, one of whom, he said, was like the leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

In an interview with United Stations Radio, Mauricio Lopez, explained that until 02.00 today local time (08.00 GMT) he will not be able to confirm whether or not there was an armed confrontation, and said the security forces carried out air patrol, to determine if that information was correct.

“There was a clash between security forces, regarding drug traffickers in Guatemala and San Francisco (Petén). Two died, one of them resembles ‘El Chapo,’” Mauricio Lopez had said on Thursday night.

However, Mauricio Lopez said that there was confusion with sharing information, that came from the residents of San Francisco on Valentine’s Day, and the northern department of Petén, which warned, of a convoy of vehicles, an armed conflict and possible deaths.

“We have no report of a confrontation between the police and the (drug) army, but we had light aircraft and helicopters fly over the region to verify that fact, he said.

“I apologize if there was a misunderstanding” he noted. The minister said that the rumor about the possible death of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in the alleged encounter, reached the President of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto.

But he stressed that the president of Guatemala, Otto Perez Molina, and Defense Minister Ulises Anzueto, waited until two in the morning for information from the first military and police investigators on the alleged encounter, and were unable to verify.

Lopez said that at about 10:00 am (1600 GMT), “I expected to have the results of the air patrol. Joaquin Guzman Loera, aka “El Chapo”, is the top leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, and is considered the main criminal gang of Mexico and mover of drugs into the United States.”

Yesterday According to social media networks, the rumor circulating, particularly on twitter, that one of the most wanted drug traffickers by the U.S. and Mexican government, could be dead. The rumor began when an email leaked by Wikileaks, in which the fir Straffor, claimed to have evidence of El Chapo hiding in the town of El Petén Guatemala, near the border of Mexico. The information was published by the Guatemala newspaper, Prensa Libre, and then taken up by TV Azteca Guatemala.

Hours later, a clash registered on the Hamlet site which said that on Valentines Day, San Francisco and El Peten, Guatemala sounded international alarms, that   confirmed four dead, two of them aboard a luxury armored truck, which contained the corpse of a person resembling El Chapo Guzman. So for now, the information provided won’t be taken for granted, that it may be the drug dealer, El Chapo Guzman. Identification couldn’t be confirmed until forensic tests are conducted on the body.

El Chapo Guzmán was captured in Guatemala in 2001, but escaped the maximum security prison of Puente Grande, by hiding in a shopping laundry cart two years later, in 2003. In recent days, the U.S. government called him a criminal “more dangerous than Al Capone,” which gave him a place among the most wanted men, and, arguably the most authorities want from both countries.

The Chapo Guzman Loera, leader of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, and Mexico’s biggest drug dealers, Official Mexican sources said on February 15 that their main objective is to verify the information.

With the death of terrorist, Osama Bin laden, in 2011, Guzman then moved up the list as the number one most wanted man in the world. It is estimated that ‘El Chapo’ controls at least 60,000 square km (23,000 square miles) of rugged mountains in Sinaloa and Durango.

Guzman, is accused of trafficking 1,500 to 2,000 kilograms of cocaine through Chicago each month.

The Northern District of Illinois is seeking the forfeiture of more than $1.8 billion in cash proceeds, through its indictment against him.

“If I was to put Capone and El Chapo in a ring, the latter would eat Capone alive,” Bilek said, according to the AP.