After six days being held captive, one of the sons of drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán has been released by his kidnappers, a member of his family said.
Speaking to AFP, the relative said that 29-year-old Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar and the five other men who were taken with him from an upscale restaurant in Puerto Vallarta were freed on late Friday night.
“They were negotiating all this time, but now are free and well,” the source said, adding that some of the captured men had already returned to the cartel’s home turf in the neighboring state of Sinaloa.
Guzmán Salazar was attending a celebration last Sunday evening at Puerto Vallarta’s La Leche restaurant when a group of armed men swooped in and kidnapped him and five of his companions. Several women who were attending the party were allowed to leave unharmed.
The Mexican Attorney General’s office, which was informed by AFP of Guzmán Salazar’s release, said that it is “still working on the investigation.” Authorities had previously said that the kidnapping was the work of the rival Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG).