An intense gunfight with heavy weapons and burning vehicles blocking roads paralyzed the capital of Mexico’s Sinaloa state Thursday after security forces located one of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s sons who is wanted in the U.S. on drug trafficking charges.

Mexican security secretary Alfonso Durazo said 30 members of the National Guard and army were patrolling in Culiacan when they were fired on from a house. They repelled the attack and inside the house found Ovidio Guzmán López.

The house was then surrounded by heavily armed gunmen who had “a greater force” and authorities decided to suspend the operation, Durazo said. He did not say if Ovidio Guzmán had been arrested or went free.

José Luis González Meza, a lawyer for “El Chapo’s” family, told The Associated Press that Guzmán’s family has said “Ovidio is alive and free” but that he had no more details about what had happened.

We dive into last night’s events, as well as the relationship between the cartels and the Mexican government. 

With files from the Associated Press. 

Guests:

Carrie Kahn, international correspondent for NPR based in Mexico City; she tweets

Malcolm Beith, author of “The Last Narco: Inside the Hunt for El Chapo, the World's Most Wanted Drug Lord” (Grove Press, 2011); he tweets