ReginaLehnen
Mexico Many people in Culiacan, Sinaloa state, received emails asking for bitcoin after a police gunfight with a gang protecting his son El "Chapo" Guzman.
Continuous blackmail emails were sent to people in Culiacan just days after the horrific gunfight between Mexican police and drug gang members related to Ovidio Guzman Lopez, son of drug lord Joaquín El " Chapo "Guzman.
Trucks were burned after a gun battle between police and gang criminals in Culiacan, Mexico on October 18 Photo: AFP
Mexican police on October 18 captured Ovidio in a house in Culiacan, but heavily armed gang members after hearing the news had arrived to rescue. After a long gun battle, the police had to release Ovidio to avoid bloodshed.
"These emails contain threats against the recipient, requesting to send money to an account," Mexican authorities on October 20 said. Culiacan residents are required to send bitcoins to them, otherwise violence will continue in the city.
Authorities confirmed it was only a scheme to extort money from opportunists who wanted to take advantage of the situation in Culiacan to make money, and asked people to ignore these emails.
Eight people were killed in a gun battle between police and gangs. Mexican security forces were heavily criticized for allowing the crime siege to show off the power of the Sinaloa gang. It is also said that Sinaloa is controlling the city instead of the government.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on October 18 defended the police group's decision to release Ovidio, saying it was necessary to ensure the lives of the police and its citizens and the stability of the city.
"El Chapo" runs Sinaloa, one of Mexico's largest and most violent drug cartels, from 1989 to 2014. He was arrested in Mexico in 1993 and successfully escaped prison in 2001 and 2014. In 2016, Mexico arrested El Chapo and extradited to the US in January 2017. The drug lord was sentenced to life in prison in July by a federal judge in the United States.
US federal officials charged the sons of "El Chapo" Ovidio and Joaquin Guzman Lopez with drug trafficking in 2017. Ovidio, 28, is believed to have been involved in drug trafficking since he was a child teenager and played an important role in the Sinaloa gang since his father was arrested.
