Sinaloa Cartel Weapons Deteriorated Almost Five Months into the Conflict

The weapons that have been confiscated from criminal groups are in a deteriorated state, which reflects the length of the conflict.

Worn stocks, rusty handguards and unpainted barrels have stood out among the long weapons that federal forces have seized in Sinaloa in the context of the dispute between Los Chapitos and La Mayiza for control of Culiacán.

Almost 150 days since the fight between both factions of the Pacific Cartel broke out, federal intelligence sources revealed to MILENIO that the weapons confiscated from criminal groups are in a deteriorated state, which not only reflects the length of the conflict but also the wear and tear of their weapons capacity.

In January alone, the security cabinet has reported the seizure of 178 long weapons, 33 handguns, 13 machine guns, four grenade launchers and two accessories, 11 grenades, four Barret rifles, 40,902 rounds, 896 magazines and 384 improvised explosives in Sinaloa.

Although most of the seizures have been reported in various parts of Culiacán, some of the most important ones in the last month occurred in Mazatlán and Escuinapa.

Other areas of the state such as the municipality of Costa Rica, San Ignacio, Elota, Concordia and Mocorito have also been the scene of operations that resulted in the seizure of firearms and tactical equipment.

Neither the Secretariat of Public Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), the Defense Department, the National Guard, or the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) have specified which faction the seized weapons belong to, however, federal intelligence sources consulted by MILENIO indicated that the most deteriorated equipment belonged to the troops led by the sons of Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán.

The photographs shared through social networks by the Secretary of Security, Omar García Harfuch, confirm the tarnishing of shotguns, AR-15 and M-16 rifles.

Meanwhile, the increase in the seizure of what the authorities call “improvised explosives” also shows the weapons disadvantage that criminal groups experience. 

Although the Sinaloa Cartel can continue to keep high-caliber weapons in different areas of the country where it has a presence, in the framework of the dispute in Culiacán, one of its advantages is located in the north of the state, specifically in the border corridor from Sonora to Arizona. According to the National Firearms Trade and Traffic Assessment (NFCTA) of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), between 2022 and 2023, 1,618 weapons circulated through this border crossing out of the 18,000 that were tracked and found to have entered the country from the United States.

Having what is considered the main weapons corridor just a few kilometers away raises alarms for the authorities in view of the possibility that both factions in dispute will replenish their arsenal with new acquisitions and continue to use it to prolong the wave of violence that is ravaging Sinaloa. However, so far there is no information to confirm that they are restocking with new weapons. 

The seizures reported in Sinaloa also led federal intelligence sources to consider the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) as the criminal organization with the greatest weapons power in the country.

From an RPG-7 rocket launcher that caused the downing of a Mexican Air Force helicopter in 2015 to the latest generation drones that they use in stealthy attacks and to displace communities in Michoacán, these are part of the weapons that the CJNG accumulates.

Seizures that federal forces have made in states where Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes’ organization has a presence also confirm the use of AK-47 rifles, Barret rifles and handguns.

Likewise, their weapons power has been captured in multiple narco corridos in stanzas such as the following: 

“At the command of El 3 and also El M, the exported weapons are sent to me in packages, they arrive from Russia to Jalisco, the freight is direct […] From here to there, from there to here, red horns, I ride the Brabus, patrolling the puddle, my buddy Shrek is on the lookout and fucking Jacob is the godfather”

The quarrels that the four-letter cartel maintains with the Sinaloa cartel and other criminal groups in the country for the control of certain places have on more than one occasion revealed the powerful arsenal they handle. 

In an interview with MILENIO, security analyst David Saucedo explained that long before the breakup of Los Chapitos and La Mayiza, the Sinaloa Cartel was fighting the criminal organization headed by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, El Mencho, in various states of the Mexican Republic. 

Chiapas, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Nayarit, Tlaxcala, Puebla, Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Campeche and Oaxaca are some of the territories that the CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel are fighting over; however, and despite the rapid expansion of El Mencho’s organization, Sinaloa is the only state where they don’t have a presence. 

While the two most powerful factions of the Sinaloa Cartel continue to annihilate each other, it is clear that the criminal organization headed by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes is accumulating and showing off the powerful arsenal with which it seeks to position itself at the top of the underworld in Mexico.

Source: Milenio