Sinaloa cartel battle flares up in northern Mexico after arrest of 2 drug lords in July – New Delhi Times – India’s only international newspaper

The killing of about a dozen people in the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa appears to be linked to infighting within the largest drug cartel there, confirming fears of repercussions following the arrest of two of the cartel’s top leaders on July 25.

Last month, Joaquín Guzmán López, a capo of a faction of the Sinaloa cartel — the Chapitos, or “Little Chapos,” the sons of imprisoned cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán — turned himself in to U.S. authorities. However, he allegedly kidnapped the leader of the rival faction, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, forcing him onto the same flight to El Paso and turning him in.

Mexican authorities are caught in the middle of the coming storm: They were not involved in the July 25 arrest, but they do not want to take the opportunity to crack down on the Sinaloa cartel. The cartel is falling apart, and what is at stake is who will take over Zambada’s faction now that he is in a U.S. prison.

To paraphrase a famous Mexican corrido song, “Smuggling and betrayal,” the combination of the two always leads to murder.

Analysts say the government is reluctant to get involved because both sides in the Sinaloa cartel’s internal conflict have damaging information about officials that they could release at any time. So they have limited themselves to increasingly desperate appeals for both sides not to fight among themselves.

On Monday, Sinaloa state Governor Rubén Rocha acknowledged that four killings on Friday and six killings on Saturday were linked to the dispute between warring factions of the cartel.

“These are related to the drug cartels … and they can be linked to the situation that arose after the arrests of July 25,” Governor Rocha said. “What I want is peace, and I have to ask for it from whoever, from the violent.”

That is in line with an earlier statement by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who acknowledged that two other killings were linked to the conflict.

On Monday, Sinaloa state Governor Rubén Rocha acknowledged that four killings on Friday and six killings on Saturday were linked to the dispute between warring factions of the cartel.

That is in line with an earlier statement by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who acknowledged that two other killings were linked to the conflict.

Credit: Associated Press (AP) | Photo credit: (AP)