This Is How ‘Los Chapitos’ Attempted To Take Control Of The Areas Controlled By Caro Quintero After The Capture Of The Drug Lord.

Mica for cartelinsider.com

Although the Sinaloa Cartel stands out for having at least 37 criminal cells at its service and a large number of allies, it also stands out for the powerful criminal organizations that it has become enemies with. Evidence of this is the various confrontations it has had with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Los Meza Flores, and even the Caborca Cartel; the latter founded and led for several years by Rafael Caro Quintero. Here we explain the importance of the latter in hindering the territorial expansion of ‘Los Chapitos’.

The Caborca Cartel was born under the leadership of the well-known ‘Narco of Narcos’ in 2017, four years after he was released from prison.

With the support of some family members and powerful allies – such as the Juarez Cartel, splinter groups from the Beltran Leyva organization, and it is even presumed that the CJNG – Quintero began to concentrate his operations in Magdalena de Kino and Caborca, border municipalities of Sonora.

But the fact was not well received by either Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada or the sons of Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, identified as the leaders of the two most powerful factions of the Sinaloa Cartel.

And the thing is, according to various reports, Sonora is of great importance to drug cartels. It is a state that provides easy access to the US border by bordering Arizona and New Mexico, as well as having access to the Pacific Ocean through the port of Guaymas.

That is why, when the new organization of Caro Quintero began to gain relevance, both ‘El Mayo’ and ‘Los Chapitos’ started a ‘war’ against him for territorial control of Sonora.

Some believed that after the arrest of Caro Quintero in July 2022, the violence unleashed by the conflict between the two sides would stop, but this was not the case.

The reports state that, although ‘El Mayo’ also fought for control of the areas held by Caro Quintero, ‘Los Chapitos’ were the main rivals of the Caborca Cartel.

Through the criminal organization of the Salazar family, the famous Guzmán Salazar-Guzmán López foursome declared war on their father’s former partner.

When Caro Quintero was recaptured, ‘Los Chapitos’ tried to take advantage of the lack of leadership and began to fight against the Caborca Cartel for control of the area.

According to authorities in the United States, the Sinaloa Cartel faction led by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s sons is characterized by the extreme use of violence, not only against their enemies but also against their allies.

This caused, in just one week, 22 murders to be registered in Sonora and numerous armed confrontations in northwest Mexico. According to InSight Crime, the main affected communities were Guaymas-Empalme, Cajeme, and Caborca.

But the great effort of ‘Los Chapitos’ was once again stopped by José Gil Caro Quintero, alias ‘El Pelo Chino’, nephew of ‘The Narco of Narcos’ who allegedly assumed leadership of the cartel immediately after his arrest.

The conflict continues until today, and as a result, they are seen as responsible for the majority of the murders registered so far.

Although the history of Mexican drug trafficking states that Caro Quintero was once a partner of the main leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, ‘El Mayo’ and ‘El Chapo’, everything indicates that their relationship changed drastically when the ‘Narco of Narcos’ was arrested in 1985 for the murder of Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena, an agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Although some journalistic investigations indicate that ‘El Chapo’ and Quintero were great friends and continued to communicate even from prison, over the years their priorities changed and that caused their relationship to break when the founder of the Guadalajara Cartel was released from prison in 2013.

It is said that, after his release, ‘El Príncipe’ received protection from ‘El Mayo’ and ‘El Chapo’, but when he expressed his intention to return to the drug business, both made it clear that they were already the owners of the territories that Quintero controlled in his heyday. That would have been the moment when their friendship came to an end.

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Mica

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