Sinaloa faction war leaves thousands dead and missing

Infobae México reports that the conflict between the Sinaloa Cartel factions known as La Chapiza and La Mayiza has left a long list of victims in Sinaloa since September 2024. The report says the violence followed the July 2024 killing of former Sinaloa Autonomous University rector Héctor Melesio Cuén Ojeda and the abduction of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, events that the Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) linked to the same ranch outside Culiacán. Infobae México says the available monitoring, which combines official, collective and journalistic records, counts 3,821 intentional homicides and 4,406 disappearances in the state, while noting that those figures are attributed to that monitoring rather than presented as a single official tally.

The source recounts attacks on agricultural leader Faustino Hernández Álvarez, union leader Homar Salas Gastélum and two local officials from Tepuche. It also describes the January 2026 attack on legislators Sergio Torres Félix and Elizabeth Montoya Ojeda, citing Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch’s statement that a cell of Los Chapitos was responsible and saying Sinaloa prosecutors identified at least six participants. One alleged logistics operator, Jesús Emir “N,” was arrested six days later, according to the report, and authorities said they seized drugs, a long gun, magazines, a vehicle and phones.

Infobae México reports that the investigation into the Tepuche killings remains open, including whether the deaths of David Guadalupe Ramírez González and his brother are connected. The report also cites a federal account of a decline in Sinaloa’s daily homicide rate, while saying armed attacks continued in early September. The figures, affiliations and investigative conclusions in this account remain attributed to the agencies, publications and monitoring cited by Infobae México; they are not independent findings by the Wire.