More than a thousand people took to the streets in Culiacan, in the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa, on Thursday to call for the release from jail of a powerful drug lord.

Joaquin Guzman, known as “El Chapo” was captured at the weekend by US and Mexican authorities at a hotel in a beachside resort after being on the run for 13 years.

Demonstrators said Guzman had helped provide jobs and did more for them than politicians.

“The motive of the march is that we don’t want the gentleman to be extradited to the United States” said Culiacan resident Maribel Gomez.

Another local, Lorena Figueroa, added: “We are here for Joaquin Guzman. Why? Because he is the one helping the people. The government must deal with kidnappers, not the people who are helping us.”

Supporters in Guzman’s home city of Culiacan say he and his cartel kept the city free of extortions and kidnappings that plague other parts of Mexico.

Guzman is on the US Drug Enforcement Agency’s most wanted list and is accused of shipping billions of dollars worth of drugs into the US.