Arrest of drug kingpin's son causes chaos in Mexico

Three security force members have died in clashes in the state of Sinaloa after the arrest of the son of notorious Mexican drug kingpin "El Chapo".

Ovidio Guzmán-López - himself alleged to be a leader of his father's former cartel - was captured in Culiacán and transferred to Mexico City, according to BBC.

Furious gang members set up roadblocks, set fire to vehicles and attacked a local airport.

Two planes were hit by gunfire - one while preparing to take off.

More than 100 flights were cancelled at three Sinaloa airports.

The state governor said earlier that 18 people had been admitted to the hospital.

Guzmán-López - nicknamed "The Mouse" - is accused of leading a faction of his father's notorious Sinaloa cartel, Defence Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval said. It is one of the largest drug-trafficking organisations in the world.

His father, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, is serving a life sentence in the US after being found guilty in 2019 of drug trafficking and money laundering. His trial revealed some of the brutal details of how Mexico's drug cartels operate.

The six-month surveillance operation to capture Guzmán-López had the support of US officials, Defence Minister Sandoval added.

Videos on social media show burning buses blocking roads in Culiacán.

The fuselage of a plane scheduled to fly from Culiacán to Mexico City was hit by gunfire on January 5 morning as it was preparing for take-off, Mexican airline Aeromexico said.

No customers or employees had been harmed, it said. A video posted on social media appears to show passengers crouching and cowering in their seats.

"As we were accelerating for take-off, we heard gunshots very close to the plane, and that's when we all threw ourselves to the floor," one of the plane passengers, David Tellez, told Reuters news agency.

An air force plane was also hit in Culiacán, Mexico's civil aviation agency said.