Cops Inch Close To Finding El Chapo’s Son As They Work Out Codename

Law enforcement units have been reportedly closing in on El Chapo’s fugitive son, Ovidio Guzman Salazar. National Defense Secretariat officers were able to crack the codename of the 32-year-old Chapo offspring and traced his movement through intercepted phone calls after hackers managed to hijack communications between the Sinaloa cartel members.

The Guacamaya Hackers obtained leaked documents that showed how the cartel members would refer to Salazar as “the mouse” and the “old man” in their efforts to conceal his identity and his whereabouts, Daily Star reported.

At the time, cartel radio communications were pinged in the Sierra de Sinaloa in Mexico while they were discussing plans for Salazar to meet with an unidentified individual. Other recorded conversations of cartel members were leaked with pledges of loyalty being exchanged. One member was heard saying he was at the service of “El Raton” which translates to “the mouse” in English. In cartel language, a reference to “old man” points to someone who is in charge of the area.

The locality being referred to is the land surrounding Los Chapitos territory clearly under the control of El Raton. While Ovidio Guzman Salazar remains at large, key clues have been sniffed out which may soon lead to his arrest. Other recorded audio spoke of cartel members discussing the movement of certain officials which also included that of the army and the National Guard. They were often referred to as “hawks” in the conversations.

In 2019, a fierce gunbattle involving armed fighters in the Mexican City of Culiacan surrounded security forces who were forced to release El Raton. Security Minister Alfonso Durazo said the militarized police came under attack after they broke into a house where they found Ovidio Guzman Salazar along with four other men. The security patrol was outmatched by the heavily armed cartel members forcing them to retreat into the house without Salazar to preserve the lives of security personnel.

The gunbattle left Culiacan in chaos and a massacre of more than a dozen police in western Mexico. About 14 suspected gang members were killed by the army a day later. In retaliation, a Mexican cop who was involved in the botched arrest of Salazar was killed by a hail of over 150 bullets just three weeks after the brutal shootout with cartel fighters.

It is said that El Raton’s release set a dangerous precedent which now sends a message that the state itself was never in control.