Mexican security forces flee after cartel gunmen launch WAR to release El Chapo’s son at drug lord’s bastion Culiacan (GRAPHIC)

In order to protect lives, Mexican authorities were forced to release the notorious drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman’s son after heavily armed cartel gunmen launched an assault against security forces holding their alleged boss.

A burning bus, set alight by cartel gunmen to block a road, is pictured during clashes with federal forces following the detention of Ovidio Guzman, son of drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, in Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Mexico October 17, 2019 © Reuters / Jesus Bustamante

Ovidio Guzman was briefly arrested after federal police patrol came under fire from a house where he was holed up with three others on Thursday afternoon. Once the cartel learned the drug lord’s son had been apprehended, groups of armed criminals began attacking police all over the city with heavy firepower, blocking roads and setting vehicles on fire.

— Jimmy (@JimmySecUK) October 18, 2019

Multiple burning vehicles after an earlier firefight #Culiacán pic.twitter.com/rHK6RnZL2j

— Jimmy (@JimmySecUK) October 18, 2019

More cartel reinforcements heading to #Culiacán, including another up-armoured technical armed with an M2 .50 Cal machine gun.

Many of these technicals appear to have armoured windshields as well. pic.twitter.com/3h8OzHmW4E

The gunmen surrounded the house where Guzman had been nabbed "with a force greater than that of the patrol," Security Minister Alfonso Durazo said.

— Natalia Sandoval (@curiousnats) October 18, 2019

To all those people who love to ask me about growing up in Culiacan. Who binge-watch all those narco shows and romanticize the capos. This is the reality of it. What real people in the real world have to endure. #Culiacan #PrayForCuliacan pic.twitter.com/UIvDktcru9

The attacks were so vicious that authorities opted to “suspend our actions,” lest the city degenerate further into a war zone.

— Jimmy (@JimmySecUK) October 17, 2019

Cartel gunmen cruising around #Culiacán, Mexico, in an up-armoured technical armed with an M2 .50 cal machine gun (!!!)pic.twitter.com/eyIHYujgDh

— Jimmy (@JimmySecUK) October 17, 2019

Another video from #Culiacán, this time a cartel gunman using a high calibre sniper rifle (very possibly a Barrett Browning M82) against Mexican police/armed forces pic.twitter.com/5aRfPil7Sm

However, the original raid on Guzman's hideout was anything but a 'routine patrol,' multiple reports alleged. Several videos show that police initially arrived at the cartel's compound in the city of Culiacan in full force – armed officers on foot, even trucks and jeeps with mounted weapons.

— Maria Elena Morera (@MaElenaMorera) October 18, 2019

Ni era patrullaje de rutina, ni se toparon por pura casualidad con el hijo del chapo.
Sr Durazo, su versión no es creíble, estas imágenes hablan por si mismas 👇 pic.twitter.com/2cky912MPL

Yet masked gunmen working for the kingpin apparently overpowered them, trading heavy gunfire that left “blazing vehicles strewn across the street” and forced locals to take shelter in schools and supermarkets as shops closed to avoid the violence.

Dead bodies lie next to a car during clashes between Cartel gunmen and federal forces following the detention of Ovidio Guzman, son of drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, in Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Mexico, October 17, 2019. © Reuters / Jesus Bustamante

Authorities of El Chapo’s home state of Sinaloa had no other choice but to release Guzman, in order to “protect lives,” the minister emhasized.

— David Wolf (@DavidWolf777) October 18, 2019

Mexican soldiers being overthrown by #Sinaloa cartel members at a toll booth in #Culiacán during today's shootouts. Soldiers had to shake hands with them. Who's really in charge in Mexico? pic.twitter.com/kXzHzbpj1y

However, several other cartel-linked individuals were detained and wounded, Secretary of Security of Sinaloa Cristobal Castañeda told El Financiero, adding that local authorities worked with the National Guard, the Army, and the Navy on the operation.

— James A. Langnes III (@JamesLangnesIII) October 18, 2019

Culiacan, Sinaloa in Mexico is currently a war zone. I encourage everyone to go checkout the situation in Culiacan, Sinaloa online. This is after El Chapo's son was arrested there. Praying for the people of #Culiacan pic.twitter.com/qixVKKX1Av

Joaquin El Chapo Guzman was sentenced to life in prison in the US in February for trafficking tons of illegal drugs and organizing a murder conspiracy, among other charges.

Dead bodies lie next to vehicles during clashes between cartel gunmen and federal forces following the detention of Ovidio Guzman, son of drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, in Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Mexico October 17, 2019 © Reuters / Jesus Bustamante

As the boss of the most powerful cartel in Mexico, he ran an enormous and complex international operation, moving drugs through tunnels and a fleet of vehicles with hidden compartments – even smuggling cocaine inside cans of jalapeno peppers.

— خالد نيويورك (@KhaledEibid) October 18, 2019

Intense fighting has erupted in #Culiacán, where masked gunmen threw up burning barricades and traded gunfire with security forces after the arrest of one of the sons of the jailed former leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel “El Chapo"#السيسي_عميل_جيشنا_فين
pic.twitter.com/YCLkXf5P45

His sons, Ovidio and Ivan Archivaldo, have allegedly been running the family business since El Chapo was extradited to the US in 2017. Ismael ‘’El Mayo” Zambada, the real leader of the Sinaloa cartel according to El Chapo’s lawyer, is believed to be feuding with the pair.

Cartel gunmen stand outside a store during clashes with federal forces following the detention of Ovidio Guzman, son of drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, in Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Mexico October 17, 2019 © Reuters / Jesus Bustamante