In the early morning hours of January 6, 2023, the son of the notorious drug cartel leader El Chapo, Ovidio Guzmán López was captured in a Mexican Military operation just outside of Culiacán. The 35 year old Guzmán was taken to a high security prison in Mexico City, and was awaiting extradition to the United States. The extradition was ultimately canceled by the Mexican administration, and it is currently on hold as Mexico figures out what and how to go about Guzmán. 

The reasoning behind the halting of Guzmán’s extradition is the twenty-nine total deaths that the Sinaloa Cartel has caused in retaliation for the arrest. Cartel members created blockades, disrupted and shot at planes, and set fire to multiple vehicles and buildings in the northwestern city of Culiacán. A similar event happened in 2019, where Guzmán was attempted to be arrested by the Mexican Military, but the Sinaloa Cartel caused so much chaos in Culiacán by causing fires, taking control of key government points in the city, building blockades, and joining gunfire towards the Mexican Military.

The biggest problem with taking control and extraditing Guzmán is largely due to the sheer amount of control that the Sinaloa Cartel holds over the Mexican government and military. On January 21, 2023, Genaro García Luna, a high ranking Mexican public safety official, was brought to court on the evidence provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration connecting Luna to the cartel before he stepped down from office. 

A large part of the move is to crack down on the fentanyl that is being produced by the Sinaloa Cartel and trafficked into the United States. In 2021, there were nearly 57,000 deaths by fentanyl alone, which accounts for the majority of drug overdoses. Fentanyl is extremely dangerous, because it is over 50 times stronger than heroin, and can cause severe symptoms such as respiratory failure, seizures, difficulty moving, and choking.

Operation Lone Star, is a joint operation between the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety which is aimed to prevent illegal weapons, drugs, and immigrants from entering the country. Many users on social media and news outlets have criticized President Biden for his lack of attention towards the southern border. President Biden visited the border for the first time in his presidency on January 8,2023, and plans to welcome nearly 20,000 from the Caribbean and Central America in the upcoming months as a part of his newly formed immigration policy.