Sinaloa has experienced a wave of violence since September 2014, when the Chapitos and Mayos factions of the Sinaloa Cartel began fighting after the kidnapping and extradition to the United States of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada—their former leader—by his own godson, Joaquín Guzmán López.
Although the violence initially focused on Culiacán and Mazatlán, it gradually spread to much of the state, resulting in clashes, armed attacks, disappearances, and murders from north to south.
Among the affected municipalities are Escuinapa, Badiraguato, El Fuerte, El Rosario, and Choix. Although both regions have experienced violent incidents, the first stands out because, during a visit by interim governor Yeraldine Bonilla Valverde, a vehicle exploded on the highway, causing property damage.
Violence in the southern part of the state began to surface in mid-December of last year, when several attacks with explosives were reported at Escuinapa City Hall buildings. It intensified this year, with clashes also beginning in the north; however, this has involved other criminal groups allied with the Sinaloa Cartel.
David Saucedo, a public security expert, explained to this newspaper that the violence on both sides of the state is not a coincidence, but rather a new front in the war caused by the breakdown of a kind of agreement between the two factions to protect their finances.
The specialist explained that these municipalities are the main drug production and recruitment areas for drug cartel cells, so their presence is likely due to the evolving nature of criminal activity.
In addition to trying to cripple their finances, Saucedo detailed that the influx of Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) cells from southern Sinaloa to support Los Chapitos is another reason for the escalating violence.
The CJNG’s presence in Sinaloa was finally acknowledged by the Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), Omar García Harfuch, during Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo’s morning press conference on Tuesday, June 16, after reports of gunmen, banners, graffiti, and even vests bearing the initials of the cartel, also known as the four-letter cartel, had been downplayed.
