Since the beginning of the Sinaloa Cartel’s drug war (September 2024) between the Los Chapitos and La Mayiza factions, a total of 656 people have been reported missing in the municipality of Mazatlán.
This figure is taken into account from September 1, 2024, to October 14, 2025, which represents an average of 1.6 disappearances per day in the port.
According to the newspaper Noroeste, of the total number of missing persons, seven live in the state of Durango, among them Carlos Emilio Galván Valenzuela, a young man from Durango who disappeared on October 5 at a restaurant in the Golden Zone.
Sinaloa as a State in Crisis of Violence and Criminal Struggle
According to data presented by the Mexican government in coordination with the governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha Moya, as of the time of writing, 2,100 intentional homicides have been reported in the state, 58 of which were by State Preventive Police officers.
Furthermore, merchant unions such as the Employers’ Confederation of the Mexican Republic (COPARMEX) have warned on several occasions that billions of pesos have been lost in the state of Sinaloa alone due to extortion and violence against businesses.
Regarding crimes related to deprivation of liberty and forced disappearance committed by private individuals, authorities reported that there are 2,635 registered victims, of which 568 have been found alive, 216 dead, and 1,851 remain missing.
Likewise, Noroeste reported that the municipalities with the highest incidence are Culiacán, with 1,187 cases of disappearances; Mazatlán with 656; and Ahome with 114 cases. Local media also reported that in the first 14 days of October, 81 investigation files for disappearances were opened in the state, 21 of which correspond to Mazatlán.
After the violence figures in Mazatlán were made public, the Municipal Secretary of Public Security, Jaime Othoniel Barrón Valdez, stated for the Contigo Mazatlán program that disappearances are reviewed daily by the Regional Peacebuilding Roundtable, which involves authorities from all three levels of government.
“We verify each of the events that occur daily. We are in direct coordination with the State Attorney General’s Office, which is responsible for conducting the investigations,” the official explained.
Barrón Valdez also stated that most cases occur outside the tourist area and that security is being reinforced in areas with the highest concentration of people, with support from the Navy, the National Guard, and the National Defense Ministry.
Finally, the head of the SSPM reiterated that the municipal corporation acts as the first responder to reports of disappearances and collaborates with the Prosecutor’s Office in analyzing crime rates to prevent new cases.
“We conduct patrols, analyze the incidence, and work to prevent new incidents from occurring,” the official concluded.
Source: infobae
