A member of the Sinaloa Cartel who identifies himself as Guero poses for a photo in a safe house in Culiacan, Mexico, April 4, 2022. To match Special report MEXICO-DRUGS/CHAPITOS REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini
The dispute between organized crime groups for control of drug trafficking and human smuggling along the border between Baja California and Baja California Sur has intensified, generating a security crisis that has rural communities in the municipality of San Quintín on high alert.
Information gathered from residents and investigators assigned to the southern delegations indicates that clashes between factions linked to Los Chapitos and La Mayiza are concentrated on the routes that cross the 28th Parallel, the border between the two states.
La Chapiza is led by brothers Iván Archivaldo and Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the group’s former leader, who initiated a bloody feud over the alleged betrayal that led to the capture in the United States of drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
As a result of this criminal split, a war for control of criminal operations in the border state of Baja California was expected.
Since then, rival groups have encroached on La Chapiza’s territory using various strategies, ranging from posing as service providers for private companies to impersonating public officials, with the aim of circumventing the security checkpoints imposed by the opposing group.
In the case of southern and northern Baja California and Baja California Sur, armed groups began arriving in late 2024. Due to the desert terrain and extreme climate, they recruited young criminals, primarily from the states of Sinaloa and Durango.
