Mexican authorities have discovered 20 bodies in the state of Sinaloa amid escalating violence between rival factions of the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel, with growing signs of a dangerous alliance forming between cartel groups.
On Monday, the state prosecutor’s office confirmed that four of the victims had been decapitated and found hanging from a bridge near Culiacán, the state capital. A further 16 bodies, one also decapitated, were found inside a van parked beneath the bridge. The severed heads were located in a nearby bag.
This gruesome discovery comes after the deadliest month yet in a spiralling conflict between two splinter groups of the Sinaloa cartel. There is increasing evidence that the Jalisco New Generation cartel, historically a major rival, has now entered the fray.
Sinaloa founding member detained
The cartel war erupted on 9 September 2024, six weeks after a dramatic arrest in El Paso, Texas. Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a founding member of the Sinaloa cartel, was detained alongside a son of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. According to reports, El Mayo believed he was betrayed by El Chapo’s son, sparking the internecine battle.
Now, a faction loyal to El Mayo’s son, known as La Mayiza, is in violent conflict with Los Chapitos, the two remaining sons of El Chapo still at large in Mexico. A message left near the bodies identified the perpetrators as members of La Mayiza.
Despite deploying thousands of soldiers to the region, the Mexican government has failed to contain the violence. The past two months have been the most brutal in the conflict, with nearly 3,000 people killed or reported missing.
In a move that could alter the course of the war, Los Chapitos have reportedly allied with their former adversaries, the Jalisco cartel. The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) warned of this potential pact in a recent intelligence report, suggesting the new coalition could dramatically reshape Mexico’s criminal landscape and global drug trade routes.
The Chapitos have been identified by US authorities as key figures in fentanyl trafficking, the synthetic opioid at the heart of a spiralling overdose crisis in the United States. The Trump administration has intensified pressure on Mexico to clamp down on fentanyl smuggling, particularly in Sinaloa, resulting in more laboratory busts, arrests, and seizures.
US Customs and Border Protection reports a near 30% drop in fentanyl seizures at the US–Mexico border compared with the same period last year.
In response to the ongoing crisis, President Trump’s administration has designated major cartels as foreign terrorist organisations, floated the prospect of military intervention in Mexico, and imposed sanctions on three mid-sized Mexican banks allegedly involved in laundering cartel funds.
