‘It’s an airstrike, dad’: El Chapo’s son’s cartel members sow terror at Mexico’s airport

“This is a plane attack, dad,” said one of David Telles’ sons, a Mexican passenger on one of the planes attacked by members of El Chapo’s son’s cartel, when they spotted Mexican military planes landing next to a Mexican company plane. Aeromexico, this Thursday.

Then the shooting started. “When the plane accelerated to take off, we heard shots very close, and then we all threw ourselves on the ground,” Tellez said after the incident in the city of Culiacan in northern Mexico.

After the arrest of Ovidio Guzmán, the son of the “drug lord” known as El Chapo, and a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa cartel, members of the cartel staged violent attacks in the city this Thursday.

Aeromexico said none of the passengers on the Tellez flight were injured. Shortly thereafter, the Culiacan airport closed as security forces patrolled the city, littered with burnt-out vehicles, in an attempt to contain a vicious counterattack.

Tellez, 42, was traveling with his wife and three children aged 1, 4 and 7 after spending Christmas with his family.

He told Reuters that he arrived at the airport for his flight at 8:24 a.m. without incident, despite running into roadblocks set up after the night’s shootings. Although Guzmán’s detention has yet to be confirmed, security forces urged travelers to enter the airport quickly.

“The authorities didn’t give us anything,” Tellez said in a telephone conversation with Reuters.

Tellez hid with his family in an airport bathroom after learning that there were gang members at the airport. The rumor turned out to be false, and Aeromexico passengers quickly boarded.

However, as flight AM165 bound for Mexico City was about to take off, several military aircraft landed on the runway.

Tellez took out his mobile phone and recorded several videos showing two large Air Force transport planes, small fighter-like attack aircraft and military trucks on the runway. Then shots began to be heard in the distance.

A video circulating on social media that appears to be of the same incident shows passengers hiding under their seats as the baby cries.

One of the flight attendants said the engine was hit, causing a leak. The crew ordered the passengers to disembark, taking them to a windowless waiting room at the airport.

The Tellez family plans to board another flight this Friday, but until then they remain at the airport.

“We prefer to stay at the airport until it is safe to leave,” Tellez said. “Staying in the city is even worse. There’s a lot of shooting and confusion.”