28th Parallel, the War Zone Between Chapitos and Mayiza

The dispute between organized crime groups for control of drug trafficking and human smuggling along the border between Baja California and Baja California Sur has intensified, generating a security crisis that has rural communities in the municipality of San Quintín on high alert.

Information gathered from residents and investigators assigned to the southern districts indicates that the clashes between factions linked to Los Chapitos and La Mayiza are concentrated on the routes that cross the 28th parallel, the border between the two states.

La Chapiza is led by the brothers Iván Archivaldo and Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the former leader of the group, who initiated a bloody feud over the alleged betrayal that led to the capture in the United States of drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.

As a result of this criminal split, a war for control of criminal operations in the border state of Baja California was anticipated.

Since then, rival groups have encroached on La Chapiza’s territory using various strategies, ranging from posing as employees of private companies to impersonating public officials, with the aim of circumventing the security checkpoints imposed by the opposing group.

In the case of southern and northern Baja California and Baja California Sur, the arrival of armed groups began at the end of 2024. Due to the conditions of the desert terrain and the extreme climate, they recruited young, non-local criminals, primarily from the states of Sinaloa and Durango.

On June 1, seven young men from Bahía de los Ángeles, in the Gulf of California, were reported missing by their families after Edgar Alberto Díaz Zurita, also known as “El Chino Díaz,” the alleged local leader of Los Chapitos in that area, recruited them to take them to Misión San Borja on the Pacific coast.

After that day, no one heard from them again until a call from federal agents alerted authorities to the presence of decomposing human remains at a location known as Misión San Borja.  There lay the seven bodies of the young men, aged 17 to 21. All had gunshot wounds, and their bodies were buried.

Following the discovery of the bodies, Attorney General Ma. Elena Andrade Ramírez reported that, given the characteristics of the attack, it was evident that criminal groups were involved. She mentioned that they were already working in coordination with the Attorney General’s Office in Baja California Sur on forensic matters related to the various homicides that had occurred in the area.

Sources from the Attorney General’s Office reported that the violence has resulted in an undetermined number of homicides, with bodies being found in uninhabited areas of the desert, while others remain missing.

FAMILIES SUSPEND CLASSES IN JESÚS MARÍA WHILE CARTEL MEMBERS PATROL

Residents of the Villa Jesús María district reported the presence of armed men in pickup trucks on December 11, who patrolled the town, strategically located on the state border, for several hours.

Witnesses stated that there were at least ten men patrolling; some exchanged words with residents, explaining that the conflict “wasn’t with the civilian population or the authorities,” but rather a dispute over control of the territory in Baja California Sur, attributed to mob linked to Ismael “Mayo” Zambada.

Despite these attempts to calm the population, fear spread among the residents who, as a preventive measure, decided to suspend classes on Friday, December 12.

This decision was made by the community due to the lack of security, as discussed at the Security Roundtable. The region had already been the scene of similar events during various incidents that occurred in 2025, but in November, audio recordings circulated of an armed confrontation in the El Arco area, also in the Villa Jesús María district, where slogans alluding to both criminal groups could be heard amidst bursts of gunfire.

The ranches connecting small settlements like El Paraíso, La Libertad, San Pedro, Las Palomas, Santa Cruz, El Cañón, Santa Margarita, and Pozo Alemán, all the way to the border with Guerrero Negro, have been identified as strategic corridors for organized crime, used for trafficking drugs, people, and marine products, both by land and air, through clandestine airstrips in areas with little to no surveillance.

According to preliminary reports, at least five abandoned vehicles and one deceased person were found at the scene.  In this altercation, authorities only acknowledged one fatality, whose body was transported by the Homicide Unit to the municipal seat for identification.

Military authorities reported that it was a confrontation between elements of the Mexican Army (SEDENA) and armed individuals, but videos captured at the scene show that it was an altercation between hitmen, resulting in at least 15 injured men.

In addition to the individuals who make up the ranks of these criminal organizations, they possess high-tech communication systems, as it is a region without cell phone service.  They communicate using closed-circuit systems, as evidenced by satellite imagery.

In one of these images, bullet-riddled vehicles can be seen, and the wounded were picked up by the armed group that carried out the ambush.

Security in this entire area is the responsibility of officers from the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA) and the Secretariat of the Navy (SEMAR), with a base established at the 28th Parallel, where members of both criminal groups travel daily. From north to south, there are also security checkpoints manned by the same national defense forces.

The military infrastructure at this key point, where drug lords operate, has led to accusations of alleged logistical support for the passage of vehicles, some with makeshift armor plating, and weapons, which have been recovered by state authorities during armed confrontations.

• The 28th Parallel, an imaginary line located north of the Tropic of Cancer, marks the border between the Mexican states of Baja California and Baja California Sur.

Source: Zeta Tijuana