Mexico steps up security in Sinaloa after murder linked to capture of drug dealer Zambada

Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha Moya detailed at a news conference on Monday the four homicides that took place last Friday and six more on Saturday, according to a report by the Associated Press.

The governor added that the crimes were “related to the circumstances that took place after July 25, when two figures of the criminal organization were captured”.

He was already referring to Zambada. Joaquin Guzman Lopezthe son of imprisoned drug dealer Joaquin dwarf Guzman was arrested after landing in New Mexico on a private plane. Both Mexico and the United States have denied planning the operation.

El Mayo, the historic boss and co-founder of the Sinaloa drug cartel, recently said in a letter that he was kidnapped and handed over by Guzmán López, also a member of the gang, who invited him to meet with Rocha.

The Sinaloa governor rejected that claim, noting that he was in Los Angeles on July 25.

According to local media reports, one of those murdered this weekend was Martín García Corrales, an alleged collaborator of Zambada for whom the United States has offered a $4 million reward.

The governor did not confirm whether one of the murdered was García Corrales, who was charged in 2023 by a court in the Southern District of New York with conspiracy to import fentanyl and possession of a machine gun and a “destructive device,” according to a document released by the U.S. State Department on its website.

They strengthen security

The review identified García Corrales as a “close collaborator” of Zambada, to whom Washington provided $15 million.

This Monday morning, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador He told a regular news conference that his government hoped “the situation in Sinaloa does not deteriorate,” adding that Sinaloa “remains very stable in terms of violence” after Zambada’s arrest.

However, this Monday they were sent 600 soldiers According to military sources, this is to “strengthen security in the state capital, Culiacán.”

Until last week, the situation in Sinaloa had remained relatively calm, although Mayo accused Guzmán López of bringing him to the United States against his will because the children of Chapo, who is serving a life sentence, are well known in the United States.

A day after the arrests, 200 Army Special Forces soldiers were sent in to prevent a “trouble” between gangs, according to an officer at the time.

Until last week, the situation in Sinaloa remained relatively calm, although Mayo accused Guzman López of bringing him to the United States against his will.

In an Aug. 10 letter released by Mayo’s defense attorneys, the group called for avoiding armed confrontation, which security experts like former DEA agent Mike Vigil see as a strategy to avoid weakening the Sinaloa cartel in the face of its biggest enemy, the U.S.-based Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

In fact, Vergil questioned Zambada’s pacifism. “When did violence matter to you?” said the former agent, who believes Guzmán López handed over Mayo because he was negotiating benefits for him and his brother Ovidio, who was extradited to the United States, and in “revenge” because his brother and son, de Zambada, testified against “El Chapo” at his trial in New York.

duty free

Sinaloa state prosecutor Sara Quiñónez resigned after federal authorities raised questions about the investigation into the death of elected deputy Héctor Cuén, whose arrest Zambada was linked to.

According to their investigation, Kun was murdered during a failed robbery attempt at a gas station, while Mayo insisted that he was killed during an abduction encounter en route to the United States.