Dozens of burned trucks and buses. Armed clashes between members of the Sinaloa Cartel and elements of the Army. Drug blockades on the main access roads and highways. Violence broke out this Thursday in Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa, amid tensions following the capture of Ismael El Mayo Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López, son of El Chapo. The images raised fears of a new Culiacanazo, the episodes of chaos, panic and violence that hit the city after the two attempts to capture Ovidio Guzmán López, another son of the capo, in 2019 and 2023. The mayor, Juan de Dios Gámez, confirmed that there are “actions by the security forces of the Federal Government” in the area of Jesús María, north of the capital, although he said that the security incidents are “focused.” “The situation that has come to light is being addressed and is focused outside the city,” confirmed Governor Rubén Rocha Moya. Federal authorities have not commented.
“It is known that military personnel suffered an attack in the Peñasco ejido, information on these events is being gathered,” said the Sinaloa Security Secretariat. It also reported a blockade on the Mexico 15 highway, near El Limón, with two burned vehicles. The videos, which have gone viral on social media, show the burning of trucks, large columns of smoke and roads blocked to prevent the arrival of security forces. The installation of “flat tires” at various points in Culiacán is also reported, although local journalists assure that there are no setbacks in the southern and central areas of the city.
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Rocha said that the aggression of “armed civilians” was the trigger for the violence and added that during the afternoon there was a response from law enforcement. “A coordinated deployment was carried out with the participation of authorities from the three levels of government,” said the governor, who spoke almost three hours after the first images were released. The president asked to avoid speculation after the emergence of several unofficial versions of the events, which have not been verified.
The Autonomous University of Sinaloa, with around 170,000 students in the state, suspended classes due to the violence. There are also reports of the suspension of several public transport routes and traffic chaos due to attempts by the population to seek shelter. State and municipal authorities have called on the population to remain calm. There is no official information on deaths, injuries or arrests.
Jesús María, a municipality with a strong presence of Los Chapitos, the faction of the Sinaloa Cartel dominated by El Chapo’s sons, was also ground zero of the battle following the arrest of Ovidio Guzmán López, alias El Ratón, in January 2023. The response of the criminal organization, known as the second Culiacanazo, ended with more than 10 hours of fire, chaos and almost a dozen deaths.
Two of the four chapitos are already in the United States. Guzmán López was extradited in September of last year. His brother Joaquín was arrested on July 25 along with Zambada, after exploring the possibility of turning himself in for years, according to the US government. Mexican authorities accuse Joaquín Guzmán López of kidnapping El Mayo and are investigating whether Ovidio was involved in the betrayal that ended with Zambada’s surrender in Sinaloa, according to a statement from the Attorney General’s Office.
The other two brothers, Iván Archivaldo and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, remain fugitives in Mexico and are considered the leaders of the organization by the United States. Washington accuses them of being the main source of the fentanyl that floods the streets of that country and offers up to 10 million dollars for information leading to their capture. Since El Mayo’s capture, Sinaloa has been on edge, amid fears of a confrontation within the cartel, a war against other criminal organisations and clashes with security forces. Around 600 soldiers were deployed last week to reinforce security in the state, a historic stronghold of the cartel.
Source: elpais
