During an intense encounter on October 21, 2024, Mexican troops killed 19 individuals suspected of affiliation with the Sinaloa cartel. The deadly clash took place roughly seven miles from the capital of Sinaloa State, Culiacán, after more than 30 armed men attacked the soldiers.
Edwin Antonio Rubio López, a prominent figure within the “Mayitos” faction of the cartel, was apprehended during the conflict.
The Mexican Defense Department asserted that the military personnel reacted in self-defense, adhering strictly to legal guidelines and respecting human rights. The aftermath of the encounter saw the confiscation of seven vehicles and an assortment of nearly 30 firearms, inclusive of machine guns, ammunition, and military-grade protective gear.
Rubio López, the captured cartel member, is identified as a high-ranking lieutenant of the “Mayitos” faction, which swears allegiance to the incarcerated drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García.
With escalating violence plaguing Sinaloa, the federal government has dispatched around 3,300 soldiers and National Guard members to the region. Regardless of this increased security presence, attacks on local media outlets and persisting shootings continue to disrupt the area.
The current wave of violence started after Zambada alleged that he was abducted and forcibly placed on an airplane by Joaquín Guzmán López, a leader of the adversarial “Chapitos” faction. The “Chapitos,” notorious for their cruel tactics including torture, are led by the sons of imprisoned drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman, co-founder of the cartel with Zambada.
According to U.S. officials, the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the largest and most active fentanyl trafficking organizations, is responsible for a substantial share of the illegal fentanyl influx into the United States.
Since early September, the escalating cartel violence in Sinaloa has led to the death of around 200 individuals, with over 300 others rumored to be missing. Drug-related violence in Mexico has seen more than 450,000 fatalities since 2006.
This recent shootout poses a significant challenge for Mexico’s newly elected president, Claudia Sheinbaum, who had previously vowed to avoid violent confrontations with criminal groups. Former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has suggested that secret agreements between U.S. authorities and one of the criminal factions sparked the violence, claims which U.S. officials have denied.
U.S. intelligence analysts predict that the conflict could endure for several years, given the extensive operations of both the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels across all 50 U.S. states, effectively controlling global drug trafficking networks.