Mexican city of Culiacan is near a standstill over fears of cartel clashes

Last edited Fri Sep 13, 2024, 03:34 AM - Edit history (1)

By MARÍA VERZA
Updated 4:34 PM CDT, September 12, 2024

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Schools and businesses in Culiacan, the state capital of Sinaloa remained closed and festivities around Mexican Independence were canceled Thursday as fears over clashes between factions of the Sinaloa cartel disrupt life in the northern city of 1 million.

Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha and outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador – both of the ruling Morena party – have downplayed the tensions, which started Monday, and said that local, state and federal forces are ensuring safety in the area.

But despite the recent deployment of special forces soldiers, planes and heavily armed helicopters, the fear continues. Even Rocha recognized that the clashes, which have followed the arrest in the U.S. of two cartel leaders in late July, could continue.

Security forces are “dissuading some violent acts but above all reducing the risks to the population to a minimum,” Rocha said in a video posted to social media Thursday.

Still, for safety reasons, he said “there will not be any celebration” for the Sept. 15-16 holiday, adding that school will be suspended Thursday and Friday because so few students showed up.

More:
https://apnews.com/article/mexico-sinaloa-cartel-violence-904fccbfedb23362896399588675e18b

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Reuters:

Sinaloa violence sparks fear of intra-cartel war in Mexico
By Jesus Bustamante and Lizbeth Diaz
September 10, 202410:02 PM CDT Updated 2 days ago

MEXICO CITY, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Shootouts in the western Mexican state of Sinaloa have kindled fears that an intra-cartel war is about to break out in the wake of the arrest of legendary trafficker, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, in July.
One soldier and two civilians were killed on Monday, authorities say. Videos widely shared online showed heavily armed gunmen moving on foot or riding trucks in areas around Culiacan, the state capital, while gunfire echoes in the background. Many cars and business have been shot at.

Calm had returned by Tuesday morning, though some shops had closed at midday.
Analysts have predicted a war within the Sinaloa Cartel ever since Zambada's arrest on July 25. The veteran cartel leader, believed to be in his mid-70s, alleges that a senior member of the Los Chapitos, another faction of the cartel, kidnapped him and then flew him to the United States against his will.
El Mayo and Los Chapitos, a grouping led by the sons of ex-Sinaloa Cartel kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, are widely believed to lead the two most powerful factions in the powerful crime syndicate.

One Sinaloa-based security official told Reuters fighters from the Los Chapitos faction entered areas controlled by Zambada to intimidate them. Some media reports, however, suggested that it was fighters loyal to Zambada who attacked Los Chapitos’ faction.
"It is believed that there may be more fighting and that these clashes are between the same two groups (within the cartel)," said America Armenta, an independent Sinaloan journalist in Culiacan.

More:
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/sinaloa-violence-sparks-fear-intra-cartel-war-mexico-2024-09-11/




General mayhem in Culiacan earlier this year after "drug cartel leader Ovidio Guzman, a son of jailed kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman" was captured.