11 dead in Nayarit as cartels violence increases in region

At least 11 people were killed in a gunfight between criminal gangs in Nayarit on Thursday, state authorities said.

The violence took place in the municipality of Huajicori, located on Nayarit’s border with Sinaloa and Durango, and is believed to have taken place between members of the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

The Nayarit Security Ministry said in a statement that 11 bodies were found in an area known as “Las Antenas” after what was reportedly “a confrontation between criminal groups.”

It was not mentioned which criminal group(s) the victims belonged to.

According to the newspaper Milenio, the 11 bullet-riddled bodies were discovered around 9 a.m. Thursday as security forces patrolled the Sierra de Nayarit, a mountainous area in the north of the state on the Pacific coast.

Authorities also found spent bullet casings and heavy-caliber weapons.

The Nayarit Security Ministry said state police, soldiers, National Guard personnel and state investigators have “intensified” joint operations in the area to protect the safety of residents.

Milenio reported that the Sierra de Nayarit is known as a “conflict point between criminal groups.”

Nayarit is located between Sinaloa, the base of the Sinaloa Cartel, and Jalisco, the home base of the CJNG. These criminal organizations are the two most powerful in Mexico and are major exporters of narcotics to the United States.

The newspaper El Financiero reported that there have been frequent clashes between the Sinaloa cartel and the CJNG in Huajicori in recent months. Some families have moved to other parts of the state, El Financiero said, adding that the violence has also affected the local economy and forced schools to close.

Violence related to the territorial wars between the Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG has also led to displacement in other parts of Mexico, including the border region of the southern state of Chiapas.

Members of the Sinaloa Cartel not only fight members of other criminal organizations, but also each other.

A long-running battle between the Sinaloa Cartel’s “Los Mayos” and “Los Chapitos” factions has intensified in Sinaloa in recent weeks after cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was arrested in the United States.

Zambada, a co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel with convicted drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, claims he was kidnapped by Joaquín Guzmán López, one of El Chapo’s sons, and forced onto a private jet, which then handed him over to U.S. law enforcement authorities.

With reports from Milenio and El Financiero