For almost four months, the Mexican state of Sinaloa has been immersed in a war between "Los Chapitos" and "La Mayiza," two factions of the Sinaloa Cartel battling for control of drug smuggling routes in the region. The constant clashes between rival cliques, military personnel and law enforcement made 2024 the bloodiest year in Sinaloa this decade.
Ever since Felipe Calderón's administration declared war to drug trafficking cartels in December of 2006, homicide rates in Sinaloa spiked. Despite averaging less than 600 homicides per year during the 1990's and early 2000's, by 2009 homicides in the entity more than doubled that average.
The following year, in 2010, Sinaloa saw a record 2,397 homicides and did not go below the 1,000 threshold until ten years later, when authorities reported 866 homicides in 2020.
But according to data from Sinaloa officials compiled by the media outlet Noroeste, the ongoing turf wars between "Chapitos" and "Mayos" has taken the state back to the elevated numbers seen during the 2010's.
Data from the National Public Security System (SESNSP) says that the majority of all homicides committed in 2024 took place since the violent conflict erupted in September 9. Since then, 657 homicides along with 732 forced kidnappings were reported in Sinaloa, averaging 5.7 murders per day.
The month of October was by far the bloodiest one in the entity, with a total of 187 homicides reported, surpassing the month of November with 176.
The spike in homicides since "Los Chapitos" and "La Mayiza" went to war with each other is evident. Between January and August, Sinaloa averaged 44 homicides per month. But between Sept-Dec., that number went up to 164 every 30 days.
Kidnappings surpass the number of homicides
Another troubling finding from Noroeste was the large number of individuals that have been kidnapped in Sinaloa this year. According to their data, the all-time record of kidnappings hovered around 3.6 cases per day. But in the last four months, that number has more than doubled, with Sept. averaging 7.3 cases per day.
Between Sept. 9 and Dec. 27, Sinaloa has averaged 6.7 kidnappings per day for a total of 778 people that continue to be missing.
Law enforcement also among the victims
Since Sept. 9, a total of 15 police officers have been killed by criminal groups according to Sinaloa's former to security official Gerardo Mérida Sánchez, who resigned from his position on Dec. 20.
According to Mérida Sánchez, two of the 15 police officers killed by criminal groups were already retired, and one more officer continues to be missing.
Throughout the country, 257 law enforcement units were killed in 2024. The state with the most cases was by far Guanajuato, with 46 homicides, followed by the State of Mexico (22) and Chiapas (19).
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
