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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican security forces have released captured drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman’s son from a house where they briefly apprehended him on Thursday, Security Minister Alfonso Durazo told Reuters, saying the decision was taken to protect lives.

Durazo’s comments followed an earlier statement that did not fully clarify whether the accused drug trafficker, Ovidio Guzman, was still in custody, following hours of intense gunbattles in the northern city of Culiacan.

(Graphic: Bungled arrest of kingpin's son, click here)