According to the local prosecutor’s report, at least fifteen people have been killed since Monday, September 9 in the northwest of Mexico during clashes linked to an open war within the Sinaloa cartel founded by drug trafficker Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
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Schools closed, businesses paralyzed, independence celebrations on September 15 canceled: armed clashes between two clans of the Sinaloa cartel are terrorizing the city of Culiacan, the capital of the state (northwest of the Mexico), which has almost a million inhabitants. Security force reinforcements have been sent there. Bodies are sometimes lying on the road. A total of twenty people are also missing.
Not recommended for US nationals
In a statement, the State Department strongly advised U.S. citizens against traveling to the region, noting: car thefts, shootings, security force operations, road blockades, burning vehicles “These armed clashes” arise ” of the events of July 25, explained the governor of Sinaloa Ruben Rocha Moya to the press. That day, the co-founder of the cartel, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was arrested in the southern United States with one of the sons of “Chapo” Guzman.
“The Mayo” accused his former partner’s son of betraying him to hasten his arrest. The violence of recent days is “ certainly “the result of the fight between the supporters of “El Mayo” and those of the sons of “Chapo” alias “Chapitos,” the governor said. Closed shops, panic buying, fear of shortages in supermarkets: the violence is also affecting the local economy. At least 2,000 people have given up coming to work for fear of violence, according to shopkeepers.
“ Some problems »
On September 13, “El Mayo” Zambada pleaded ” not guilty » in a New York court for drug trafficking. For his part, “El Chapo” is serving a life sentence in prison in the United States for drug trafficking. On the same day, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador mentioned “ some problems “, while hundreds of soldiers have been deployed. There is the army, the navy, the national guard “, he said, asking residents to ” act with caution, but without alarmism “.
The Mexican president also called on the belligerents to ” act with a minimum of responsibility ” The city of Culiacan was shaken by violence on January 5th during the arrest of Ovidio, another son of the “Chapo” (29 dead, including 10 soldiers). He has since been extradited to the United States.
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