Over 30 Dead in Mexican Cartel Clashes After El Mayo Zambada’s Arrest Sparks War

Eleven more people have been killed in a wave of violence in the Mexican cartel heartland, bringing it to over 30 reported dead in a week of bloodshed. The latest fatalities included five men found on a highway south of Culiacan.

The clashes follow the arrest of Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada on U.S. soil on July 25. Zambada pleaded not guilty last week in a drug trafficking case that accuses him of engaging in murder plots and ordering torture.

The violence is believed to pit gang members loyal to Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and his sons against others aligned with Zambada. Schools were closed Thursday and Friday due to the violence, and the governor said Sunday’s Independence Day festivities had been canceled.

The United States issued a security alert due to reports of car thefts, gunfire, security forces operations, roadblocks, burning vehicles, and closed roadways in the vicinity of Culiacan.

Mexican prosecutors last month said they were bringing charges against López Guzmán – the son of El Chapo, for apparently kidnapping Zambada, but also cited another charge under an article of Mexico’s criminal code that defines what he did as treason. The younger Guzmán is a member of the Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa cartel, which smuggles millions of doses of the deadly opioid fentanyl into the United States, causing about 70,000 overdose deaths each year.

El Chapo, the Sinaloa cartel’s founder, is serving a life sentence in a maximum-security prison in Colorado after being convicted in 2019 on charges including drug trafficking, money laundering, and weapons-related offenses.

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