One year after the start of the war within the Sinaloa Cartel, the battle is raging. In recent hours, authorities have found the bodies of 20 people, shot and abandoned on Mexico City Highway 15, north of the city of Culiacán. Four of them were decapitated and hanged from their limbs on a bridge. The others were found in a pickup truck.
The first news of the discovery emerged Sunday night, around 11:30 p.m. Authorities were working on a preliminary report on the hanging bodies, as well as the location of a pickup truck on the side of the bridge. But it was only on Monday morning that the State Attorney General’s Office released more details.
“At the scene, on the bridge, four decapitated bodies were found, as well as a bag containing five head limbs,” the agency stated in a brief report shared with the press. “Fifteen complete bodies and one decapitated body were found inside a pickup truck. All the victims are male and show signs of gunshot wounds,” he added.
Authorities have found messages on a tarp tied to the pickup truck, as well as graffiti on the vehicle’s chassis. In the text, the perpetrators appear to indicate that the attack was carried out by one of the warring factions, the one controlled by Ismael Zambada Sicairos, alias “Mayito Flaco,” son of Ismael Mayo Zambada. The message criticizes the leaders of the opposing faction, the sons of Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán, Iván and Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, popularly known as Los Chapitos.
None of the murdered men have been identified; only the criminal organization’s attribution is known. The discovery occurred after a series of roadblocks on Sunday in the municipality of Navolato, about 40 kilometers from where their bodies were found.
The conflict between the two factions began in early September, weeks after El Mayo Zambada was apparently kidnapped by Joaquín Guzmán López, another of El Chapo’s sons, to be taken to the United States, where he is now on trial for drug trafficking and murder in that country. That, at least, is the hypothesis of the Attorney General’s Office.
The bodies of the 20 murdered people are reminiscent of the discovery of six others, abandoned inside a white van in the Alturas del Sur neighborhood of Culiacán, in late September. Authorities also found a message inside that vehicle that read “Welcome to Culiacán.” The greeting appeared to be aimed at former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who had planned a final visit to Sinaloa, accompanied by President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum.
The end of that month highlights the violence currently experienced in the capital of Sinaloa, a situation that has spread to many of the state’s municipalities and has spread to Baja California and Sonora, where the cartel has a presence and influence through illicit businesses, such as the production and trafficking of weapons and drugs, especially fentanyl.
The violence has affected the entire population. At least 47 children and adolescents have died in clashes since the beginning of hostilities in September, in addition to 28 women and nearly 40 police officers. In recent months, more than 1,700 people have disappeared. Violence has also been a determining factor in a historic economic downturn in the region.
Source: elpais
