José Antonio Castro Meza, a US citizen, has been missing in Sinaloa for two days. He disappeared in Culiacán on September 15, and local authorities reported the disappearance after the 48-hour mark had passed. A notice containing his details was circulated on social media on the same day his SUV was found near a park in Culiacán. According to data from the State Attorney General’s Office, Sinaloa has recorded over 4,400 disappearances and more than 3,800 murders since an internal war broke out two years ago between factions of the Sinaloa Cartel: *La Mayiza* and *Los Chapitos*.
Regarding the American’s disappearance, the only information released is that a gray Geely EX2 SUV—the vehicle Castro Meza had been driving—was located this Thursday. It was found in the La Campiña neighborhood, in the eastern part of Culiacán. Local authorities reported that an anonymous tip led to the discovery of the vehicle, which had been abandoned near Parque 87.
Hours later, the vehicle was taken to the Seized Assets Unit, where at least 5,000 other vehicles—confiscated or recovered by authorities as “crime evidence”—are held. The State Preventive Police and the Army focused their search operations on the neighborhoods surrounding the location where the SUV was found, but as of Thursday afternoon, there was no trace of Castro Meza’s whereabouts.
In response to information requests, the State Attorney General’s Office reported that between the start of the internal conflict and March 2026, at least nine foreign nationals had gone missing, including three US citizens, two Colombians, two Dominicans, one Australian, and one Guatemalan. The war between factions has intensified over the past five months—particularly in Culiacán, Mazatlán, and Escuinapa—yet no official explanation or public report has emerged regarding the reasons behind the surge in attacks, murders, and disappearances.
Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo’s administration has deployed up to 15,000 personnel from the Army, Navy, National Guard, and the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection to the area. In recent days, the government announced a new contingent of 3,500 troops to bolster security in Mazatlán, the state’s most important tourist destination.
As of the afternoon of September 16, President Sheinbaum’s schedule included a public event at Parque 87 for the weekend; however, this Thursday—following the discovery of the missing U.S. citizen’s pickup truck abandoned beside that park—the venue was changed to the facilities of the Sinaloa Regional Livestock Union.
