Dramatic video of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's son being momentarily captured by security forces has been released by the Mexican government.

Ovidio Guzman, who is accused of drug trafficking in the US, was on his knees against a wall before police were forced let him go when heavily armed cartel fighters surrounded them.

Defence secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval showed the video of Guzman's arrest on Wednesday and presented a timeline of the failed operation, which embarrassed the administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Image: A burning bus pictured after a gun fight between Mexican police and the Sinaloa cartel

Helmet camera footage shows soldiers enter the building while shouting and gesticulating.

Guzman, wearing a baseball cap, is then seen exiting the house with his hands up before he is ordered to get on his knees against a wall.


Soldiers order him to call off the attacks around the western city of Culiacan in Sinaloa as gunfire is heard in the background.

"Stay calm! Stay calm!" police can be heard saying.

Guzman, who is a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel, then called his brother Archivaldo Ivan Guzman Salazar on his mobile phone and told him to stop the attacks.

Image: Officers ordered Guzman to call his brother to stop the chaos in Culiacan

Archivaldo refused to stop the chaos and shouted threats against the soldiers and their families.

Soon after Guzman's arrest, cartel gunmen surrounded the residence and staged gun battles and burning road blocks around Culiacan, causing widespread panic and killing 13 people around the city.

Later that afternoon, police withdrew from the residence without the suspected trafficker to avoid a bloodbath.

El Chapo's son escapes arrest amid gunfight

Security minister Alfonso Durazo said: "The decision was taken to retreat from the house, without Guzman, to try to avoid more violence in the area and preserve the lives of our personnel and recover calm in the city."

According to the minister, around 30 members of the national guard were fired at from a house containing Guzman.

Mexico's president, Mr Obrador, said the decision to set free the drug baron's son was "the right thing to do".

He added: "If we were to impose our will by force we would've needed back-up of about 2,000 to 3,000 forces and we would've needed to shoot machine guns from helicopters and we had all the information they were willing to shoot civilians."

El Chapo was jailed in July for his decades-long career of drug smuggling in Central and North America.

The 62-year-old escaped from prison twice before being arrested and extradited to the US.

He was sentenced to life plus 30 years at a supermax prison, where he is expected to die.

Image: El Chapo arriving in the US in 2017 after his extradition to Mexico

It is thought that Ovidio, along with his brothers, is still an influential figure in the Sinaloa cartel.

Ovidio is on a number of wanted lists due to his links with the drug cartel, according to local media.

The government's timeline of events showed that the US government requested Guzman's arrest for extradition on 13 September and on 9 October.