The municipality of Navolato, Sinaloa, a strip that connects Culiacán with Altata Bay, has in recent months passed under the control of the La Mayiza faction, a group loyal to Ismael El Mayo Zambada, following a series of internal ruptures within the Sinaloa Cartel, according to federal reports.
Until recently, a stronghold of Los Chapitos, a group led by the sons of Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán, Navolato has become the new epicenter of clashes and criminal reshuffles that have intensified violence in the state.
On Wednesday, before senators, Omar García Harfuch, head of the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), affirmed that October 2024 saw the highest peak of intentional homicides in Sinaloa, a trend that continued through November.
“Indeed, when the administration began in October, homicides in Sinaloa peaked. In November, homicides in Sinaloa were still on the rise. In December, there was a surge, beginning to register a downward trend,” he stated in the plenary session during his appearance for the commentary on Claudia Sheinbaum’s first report.
“After having five sustained months of downward trends in December, January, February, March, and April, May and June saw another upward spike in Sinaloa, due to two specific situations, among many others. These two were what marked this upward trend in two months, after five sustained months of downward trends: first, a criminal leader confronted authorities in an operation. This criminal leader, one of the most violent, lost his life, and there was a spike in homicides due to internal restructuring.”
“In June, an entire cell of one criminal group switched to another, generating an upward trend,” he emphasized.
Another betrayal of Los Chapitos
Federal sources revealed that it was Juan Carlos Bernal Zazueta, known as El 11, who allegedly switched sides and aligned himself with Los Mayitos, triggering a wave of attacks in the area.
El 11 was considered a key Los Chapitos operator, with influence over clandestine laboratories between Navolato and Culiacán. His alleged shift to La Mayiza would have represented an internal betrayal and a territorial realignment that weakened the Guzmán faction in the region.
