More than 100 people have died or gone missing in two weeks of fighting within a Mexican drug cartel

Photo: Mexican soldiers in Culiacan, Mexico, September 19, 2024

At least fifty people have died in a conflict that has flared up within the Mexican drug cartel “Sinaloa” in almost two weeks, Reuters reported, citing local authorities.

At least 53 people have been reported dead and 51 missing in Sinaloa state on the country's west coast since Sept. 9, in deaths linked to infighting within the Sinaloa drug cartel, which has seen intense fighting between different factions.

The violence within the cartel follows the arrest in July of Sinaloa boss Ismael Zambada, aka “El Mao,” and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of another prominent cartel leader, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

Zambada and Guzman Lopez were reported to have arrived in the United States on a private jet before being arrested. In August, it was reported that the Mexican government had brought charges against Lopez, but not for his leadership of Sinaloa. He was accused of being involved in the kidnapping of his “senior colleague” Zambada.

The active phase of the conflict began on September 9, and since then there have been reports of regular gunfire in the state capital of Culiacan. In the city, whose population exceeds 600,000, schools have been closed on some days, and many restaurants and shops have closed early, Reuters reports.

State Governor Ruben Rocha Moya said on Friday that more than 40 people had been arrested in recent days. Earlier, the Mexican military managed to arrest Ivan Guzman, the son of the aforementioned "El Chapo" Guzman.

The city of Culiacan is located in the west of the country

On Friday, a court decision was also announced in the case of a member of another prominent drug cartel. A court in the capital, Washington, found Ruben Oseguera (aka “El Menchito”), the son of fugitive Jalisco New Generation cartel boss Nemesio Oseguera, guilty. He was the cartel's second-in-command before he was extradited to the United States in 2020, the Associated Press recalls.

“El Menchito now joins a growing list of high-ranking cartel leaders the Justice Department has convicted in an American courtroom,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland. “We are grateful to our Mexican law enforcement partners for their extensive cooperation and sacrifice in bringing the leaders of the Jalisco Cartel to justice.”