A new wave of violence has raised fears in Sinaloa in recent hours, under suspicion of the end of the truce between the group led by Ismael The May Zambada and Los Chapitos, the heirs of Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán. Andrés Manuel López Obrador acknowledged on Tuesday that “it is very possible” that the shootouts, the attacks on military convoys and the findings of dead men are related to the capture of El Mayo on July 25 in the United States. The president called for calm and assured that there are enough elements of the Army and the National Guard “to prevent the gangs from clashing.” “I don’t want to anticipate anything,” said the president when asked in La Mañanera if there was a fracture in the Sinaloa Cartel. Despite the silence of the authorities, security analysts and local media practically take for granted that the escalation in hostilities in Culiacán and other municipalities of the State is linked to the clash between The Mayiza and The Chapizaas the two predominant factions in the criminal organization are known.
A shootout between members of the Armed Forces and “armed civilians,” the phrase used by the authorities to avoid speaking explicitly about criminal groups, was the first warning. According to the official version, an Army convoy encountered a cartel cell in the La Campiña neighborhood, east of Culiacán, early Monday morning. López Obrador confirmed the death of a sergeant a day later, one of the two soldiers who were injured in the shootout.
The shooting in La Campiña captured the attention of national and international media, but it was not the only one. The scenes of violence extended to the south of Culiacán and other nearby communities. Around nine in the morning, another skirmish took place between an Army patrol and armed civilians on the Mexico 15 highway, an area under the control of El Mayo’s faction. The confrontation left one dead, according to information verified by the newspaper. NorthwestA couple of hours later, there was another shooting in the municipality of Costa Rica. Governor Rubén Rocha confirmed that two civilians were injured.
In the afternoon, the situation worsened in other areas of Culiacán. In the town of Portaceli, one man was found dead, another wounded, and a burned-out truck. The body of another person, handcuffed and murdered, was abandoned on Agricultores Boulevard. Another victim died from a gunshot in Culiacán 87 Park. In addition, authorities seized several vehicles after shootouts between civilians and military personnel in the area of El Salado and a confrontation between civilians and National Guard agents on Highway 20, near Navolato and Costa Rica.
Violence has also been present in the municipality of Elota, where classes were suspended at all educational levels on Tuesday and stores and businesses were advised to adopt security measures. The Autonomous University of Sinaloa, with 70,000 high school and college students throughout the state, announced that classes will be virtual “as a preventive measure in light of the violent events that have occurred in Culiacán, Badiraguato, Navolato, Elota and Eldorado” and until further notice. The state Secretariat of Education, on the other hand, resumed activities in Culiacán after the suspension on Monday and state government agencies announced that they are operating “normally.” Authorities also announced that public transportation has been fully restored.
The results of the last day of violence differ from the information that each media outlet has managed to report. Mirror Magazine speaks of at least three dead. The Northwest confirmed that there were five deaths. Others, such as The Newsiess, The Debate or the weekly RioDocechose to report each incident separately, without providing overall figures.
The Sinaloa government has confirmed only one murder, which was found on the Mexico 15 highway. It also reports a dozen vehicles seized and another dozen stolen, as well as one person arrested. The state prosecutor’s office has not issued any statements about dead or injured people and has focused on urging the population to report robberies. “Culiacán is calm,” Rocha said at a press conference Monday at noon. The governor posted a video on his social networks this morning walking along the banks of the Tamazula River to insist that the situation has returned to normal and is under control. “In Culiacán, the fracture of the Sinaloa Cartel is looming,” he reports, however, Mirror MagazineThis is the diagnosis of other local journalists consulted by this newspaper.
Security analyst Alfredo Brambila says that violence is “out of control” and that the stability that authorities have boasted about in recent years has been sustained by a “narco peace,” which has been threatened after the theory that El Mayo was betrayed and handed over to the United States by Los Chapitos gained strength. “The violence is the result of a rupture between the main criminal groups of the Sinaloa Cartel, Los Mayos and Los Chapos,” he says. Brambila argues that Zambada’s people are looking for a “settling of scores” and “revenge,” while El Chapo’s sons want to capitalize on the apparent weakness of their former partners after the fall of their leader.
David Saucedo, an organised crime specialist, says that although there has not been a formal declaration of war between the leaders of both factions, friction between cartel members has become evident. “The authorities are on the lookout, the ones who set the tone are the criminal groups,” he says. “These are signs of what appears to be the start of a war, although we have not yet seen an open confrontation,” he adds. Seven weeks after El Mayo was captured, fears have multiplied over the possibility of revenge from his men.
Saucedo lists some signs that may be behind the latest clashes: the murder of a dozen La Mayiza operators at the hands of Los Chapitos, shootouts with security elements suspected of collaborating with El Chapo’s sons, and Zambada’s exhortation to his men to avoid violence in the “border zones,” where members of different factions are present. “Declaring war from one day to the next was reckless,” says the specialist. “They took this time to accumulate weapons, ammunition, and men,” he adds.
The Sinaloa Cartel faces a strategic dilemma: start an internal war or maintain cohesion to confront its rivals. This week, for example, there was a confrontation between members of Sinaloa and groups linked to the Juarez Cartel in Ojinaga, Chihuahua. Authorities reported four deaths.
The federal government has reinforced security in Sinaloa with the deployment of hundreds of soldiers from other regions of the country, one of the main factors that have deterred violence in recent weeks. “There are enough elements to maintain peace and tranquility and so far, fortunately, things are calming down,” said López Obrador. “Sinaloa does not deserve violence,” the president concluded, in a new call to criminal groups to avoid new confrontations.
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