Mexican media reported at least 10 new deaths over the weekend – including bodies found wearing sombreros or with pizza slices tied to them with knives – in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, where rival cartel factions have been in open conflict with each other and authorities in recent days.
THE increase in violence comes after the surprise arrest on US soil of the co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada in late July, which reportedly sparked an internal power struggle within the group.
About 70 people have been killed in the state since September 9, mainly in the capital Culiacán, according to official and press reports.
Three incidents occurred Saturday in the central neighborhood of Tres Rios in Culiacan.
The first incident was a shootout between police and suspected hitmen, following which unknown assailants blocked a road with cars and motorcycles about 650 feet from the prosecutor’s office.
In addition, security officers were attacked by armed men who then fled into a residential building. A shootout left three suspected criminals dead, one arrested and two wounded among the soldiers, Governor Ruben Rocha Moya wrote on social media.
“Security forces managed to evacuate six adults and a minor from the property where the attackers had taken refuge,” said Rocha, who traveled to Mexico City on Saturday to meet with the president-elect. Claudia Sheinbaum.
The federal government also sent 600 troops on Saturday to bolster security in Sinaloa.
Local media also reported seven other deaths. The bodies of five people were dumped in the street, half-naked and wearing hats, in what appeared to be a message of intimidation between the warring factions.
Bodies have been found throughout the city, often dumped on the streets or in cars, with either sombreros on their heads or pizza slices or boxes attached with knives. Pizza and sombreros have become informal symbols of the warring factions of the cartels, highlighting the brutality of their war.
IVAN MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images
Zambada, 76, was arrested July 25 after crossing the U.S. border. claims to have been kidnapped in Mexico and handed over to the United States against his will.
He was detained with Joaquin Guzman Lopezson of Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who is serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison in Colorado after being convicted in 2019 on charges including drug trafficking, money laundering and weapons offenses. Last year, El Chapo sent an “SOS” message to the president of Mexico, alleging that he was subjected to “psychological torment” in prison.
The wave of violence is believed to pit gang members loyal to El Chapo and his sons against other gang members close to Zambada.
Zambada pleaded not guilty last week new York in a drug trafficking case that accuses him of participating in murder plots and ordering torture.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who leaves office at the end of the month, has attributed part of the responsibility to the United Statesclaiming that he had unilaterally planned the capture of Zambada.
This claim was rejected on Saturday by US Ambassador Ken Salazar.
“It is incomprehensible that the United States could be responsible for the massacres that we see in different places,” Salazar said at a news conference Saturday in Chihuahua. “What is happening in Sinaloa is not the fault of the United States.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
