An unusual incident was recorded on digital platforms after a Google Street View vehicle—tasked with capturing panoramic street-level imagery—captured the presence of a group of hitmen belonging to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) along a stretch of road in the municipality of Culiacán, Sinaloa.
The sequence of images documents the exact moment the tech vehicle travels along the road connecting the communities of El Tepuche and Los Algodones. Upon rounding a curve, the Google car’s driver came face-to-face with an improvised roadblock manned by several men carrying firearms, who immediately began signaling and gesturing for the vehicle to slow down and come to a halt.
Compelled by the circumstances, the driver stopped the vehicle—with the company’s logos and cameras clearly visible. In the captured images, which were subsequently integrated into Google Maps under the coordinates 25°00’44.9″N 107°19’33.5″W, the personnel can be seen engaging in conversation with three of the armed civilians.
After a brief interaction, the tech company’s vehicle was granted permission to resume its journey. However, subsequent images reveal that three additional armed men approached the scene, apparently drawn by the curiosity sparked by the design of the photographic equipment and the car’s distinctive branding.
The final shot in the sequence shows one of the gunmen watching the Google car’s trajectory until it has completely driven away from the roadblock area.
Such incidental captures by international mapping services fortuitously expose the traffic conditions and the level of control exerted by criminal cells along various dirt tracks and secondary roads throughout the country.
