13 suspected drug cartel members died Monday in a shootout with authorities within the troubled Mexican state of Sinaloa, officers mentioned.
One other 4 suspects had been arrested and 9 individuals kidnapped by the gang had been freed following the conflict in Guasave, a municipality within the northwestern state, Safety Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch mentioned in a social media put up.
He mentioned safety personnel finishing up a patrol had been attacked by gunmen hiding beneath a bridge, prompting officers to reply.
After the firefight the legislation enforcement officers additionally seized seven autos, high-powered weapons, and tactical gear, Garcia Harfuch mentioned.
Sinaloa has been rocked for greater than a yr by a battle between factions of a strong native cartel. The violence has left at the very least 1,700 individuals useless, 57 of them minors, and almost 2,000 lacking.
The cartel’s inside struggle started after the seize of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the group’s historic chief, who was betrayed and brought to the USA in July 2024 by a son of his former companion, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
Following their arrests and Zambada’s allegations of kidnapping, horrific combating erupted in Mexico between a cartel faction loyal to him and one other tied to the “Chapitos,” Guzmán’s sons.
The Chapitos have used corkscrews and electrocution to torture their rivals whereas a few of their victims had been “fed useless or alive to tigers,” in line with an indictment launched by the U.S. Justice Division.
In latest months, our bodies have appeared throughout Sinaloa, usually left slung out on the streets or in vehicles with both sombreros on their heads or pizza slices or packing containers pegged onto them with knives. The pizzas and sombreros have grow to be casual symbols for the warring cartel factions, underscoring the brutality of their warfare.
Felix Marquez / AP
Final week, authorities mentioned El Chapo’s hometown was hit in assaults by explosive-laden drones.
El Chapo was sentenced to life plus 30 years and is serving time at a Supermax jail in Florence, Colorado. In 2023, the cartel chief despatched an “SOS” by his attorneys to then-President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for assist because of alleged “psychological torment” he says he’s struggling in jail
