With Rocha Out, The Mayos Advance
The U.S. indictment of the Sinaloa governor strengths the enemies of the Chapitos
At dawn this morning, motorists on the road to Escuinapa, Sinaloa, saw the chilling sight of a human head stuck on a bridge along with a blanket, or narco manta, with a threatening message. Soon after, a gruesome video was sent around Sinaloa WhatsApp groups showing a pile of corpses and five severed heads in a row on the dirt.
In the video, a gunman pushes one head with his foot and says, “We’ll show this to El Guero Pin,” referring to a commander in Escuinapa for the Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. The head from the video appears to be the one on the bridge, and the massacre looks like it is of Guero Pin operatives, which is a strategic blow to Chapitos forces in the area.
It’s one of many hits this month on the Chapitos, who are headed by sons of the imprisoned drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. Gunmen stormed the Palmito neighborhood of state capital Culiacán, long known as a Chapitos stronghold, burning buildings and spraying them with bullets. Corpses have been dumped across the Culiacán urban area, several along with scrawled messages claiming them as Chapitos members.
Since U.S. prosecutors in April revealed they had indicted Sinaloa governor Rubén Rocha for allegedly working with the Chapitos, the rival Mayos faction has been hitting the Chapitos hard and gaining substantial turf. With the new offensive, the Mayos could score an imminent victory finally ending a cartel battle that has devastated the state for 20 months. Yet it illustrates the old drug war problem that when the government hits one clan of narcos it inevitably helps its enemies.
The Mayos have pushed into neighborhoods in Culiacán including La Pemex, Barrancos, Vallado Viejo, and Rafael Buelna, according to a former Mexican federal investigator and a Culiacán businessman who has worked with the cartel. “The Chapos haven’t got the government protecting them in these places anymore,” said the businessman. “They are really vulnerable right now.”
The Mayos are broadcasting the claim that the loss of Rocha has weakened the Chapitos in videos that circulate on social media. In one, a man in a ski mask and sun glasses talks of the downfall of the Chapitos, showing a photo of their boss, Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, and pictures of pizzas, a symbols of the faction.
“The Chapitos have totally lost control of Culiacán…They are left without political support, without protection from above,” he says. “Those who before were untouchable are now in hiding.”
The U.S. indictment also charges nine other current and former Sinaloa officials, including a senator, Culiacán mayor, and state police and prosecutors, hitting the whole network of alleged cartel protection. Both Rocha and the senator are in Mexico’s governing Morena party. While President Claudia Sheinbaum has asked U.S. prosecutors for more evidence before ordering arrests, Rocha has taken leave and the officials are lying low.
As well being beaten back in the state capital, the Chapitos are losing control of their plazas, or turfs, in small towns and villages, the sources said, including…
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