14 suspected Sinaloa Cartel members arrested in Chiapas
Original reporting: El País México
What happened
Federal authorities said two of the 14 people arrested in Benemérito de las Américas were regional Sinaloa Cartel leaders. Security forces seized weapons and tactical equipment.
Reporting and context
Mexican security forces arrested 14 people in Benemérito de las Américas, Chiapas, on the border with Guatemala, whom federal authorities identified as suspected Sinaloa Cartel members, according to El País México. The federal Security Cabinet said two of those detained were regional leaders of the organization.
The Security Cabinet announced the arrests on Wednesday. Armed forces personnel, the National Guard and federal and state police participated. Authorities reported seizing 12 long guns, 97 magazines, 882 rounds of ammunition and 17 tactical vests fitted with ballistic plates.
El País México reported that the arrests come amid years of violence in Chiapas involving local criminal groups and rival organizations including the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Control of migrant-smuggling routes toward the United States is one source of competition, the newspaper explained.
The violence has also forced Indigenous communities from their homes. In 2024, more than 4,000 Ch’ol people fled Tila, one of the most serious displacement episodes described in the report.
The newspaper also cited a separate federal operation in Suchiapa in early October that led to the arrest of 21 public employees, including Mayor Jorge Lara, his predecessor Alexis Nucamendi and police chief Jesús Antonio N. They face allegations of abuse of authority, corruption and criminal association. That operation followed the escape of a member of the Chiapas and Guatemala Cartel from the municipal jail, according to the investigations cited by El País.
Chiapas shares nearly 700 kilometers of border with Guatemala. The newspaper described the region’s rivers, mountains and access to the sea as routes used by criminal organizations to move migrants, drugs and weapons.
Original reporting: El País México.