Bodies found wearing sombreros in Mexico as drug cartel violence rages after Sinaloa leaders arrested in US

Mexican media reported at least 10 new deaths over the weekend, including bodies wearing sombreros or with pizza slices stuck to them with knives, in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, where rival cartel factions have openly clashed with each other and the authorities in recent days.

The increase in violence comes after the surprise arrest on US soil of co-founder of Sinaloa cartel Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada in late July, which is believed to have sparked an internal power struggle within the group.

According to official figures and press reports, about 70 people have died in the state since September 9, mainly in the capital Culiacan.

Three incidents took place on Saturday in the central Tres Rios neighborhood of Culiacan.

The first event was a shootout between police and suspected hitmen, after which unknown persons blocked a road with cars and motorcycles about 200 meters from the prosecutor’s office.

Separately, security guards were attacked by gunmen who then fled into an apartment building. An ensuing shootout left three suspected criminals dead, one arrested and two soldiers wounded, Governor Ruben Rocha Moya wrote on social media.

“Security forces managed to evacuate six adults and a minor from the compound where the attackers had taken refuge,” said Rocha, who traveled to Mexico City on Saturday to meet 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 left on the street, half-naked and wearing hats, in what is believed to be a message of intimidation between the warring parties.

Bodies have appeared all over the city, often left in the streets or in cars with sombreros on their heads or pizza slices or boxes pinned to them with knives. The pizzas and sombreros have become informal symbols for the warring cartel factions, underscoring the brutality of their warfare.

Zambada, 76, was arrested on July 25 after flying across the border into the U.S. claims he has been kidnapped in Mexico and transferred against his will to a U.S. prison.

He was together with Joaquin Guzman Lopeza son of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, who was 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-related offenses. Last year, El Chapo sent an “SOS” message to the President of Mexico, claiming that he had been a victim of “psychological abuse” in prison.

The wave of violence is believed to have pitted gang members loyal to El Chapo and his sons against others with ties to Zambada.

Zambada pleaded not guilty last week in New York in a drug trafficking case in which he is accused of being involved in murder plots and ordering torture.

President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, who will step down at the end of this month, has partly blamed the United Statesand said it had unilaterally planned Zambada’s capture.

The claim was rejected on Saturday by US Ambassador Ken Salazar.

“It is incomprehensible how the United States can be responsible for the mass killings that we are seeing in different places,” Salazar said at a news conference in Chihuahua on Saturday. “What is happening in Sinaloa is not the fault of the United States.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.