The Sinaloa Crisis Didn’t Begin with "El Mayo": The Violence Cannot Be Attributed To A Single Event

“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat 

The government, for its part, claims that the violence crisis in Sinaloa is the result of—pardon me—foreign interference; yet the state hasn’t been in crisis only since yesterday. We have been bleeding for decades due to drug trafficking disputes and political corruption. The current government washes its hands of the crisis that is draining Sinaloa of its lifeblood. 

“Foreign interference causes the violence”—that is the official narrative. Under the guise of an exaggerated discourse about reclaiming sovereignty, it seeks to erase decades of complicity and negligence. The government attempts to reduce the state’s crisis to a single event: the July 2024 abduction of “El Mayo” Zambada and his subsequent arrest in El Paso, Texas, alongside Joaquín Guzmán López. 

It is worth recalling that the kingpin himself made this public in a letter: “I was kidnapped and brought to the United States by force and against my will.” Two months later, on September 9, a civil war broke out between the two major factions of the Sinaloa Cartel: “Los Chapitos” and “La Mayiza.” This rift has plunged the state into a bloody war that has left at least 3,900 dead and 4,400 missing. 

At the root of this crisis lies a long history of accumulated favors and silence—things that can no longer be glossed over. To understand it, one must look inward and look back. The government has failed to mention that the Sinaloa Cartel has been wreaking havoc across Mexican territory for decades. In 2008, the arrest of Alfredo Beltrán Leiva—known as “El Mochomo”—triggered a split between the Beltrán Leiva brothers and the Sinaloa Cartel. 

That rupture turned former partners into enemies and unleashed a war so violent that it spread to various regions of the country. Nor does the current government wish to recall that “El Chapo” Guzmán escaped from maximum-security prisons twice, while Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada operated in various parts of the country with total impunity for four decades. The government also cannot blame foreign interference for the events of October 17, 2019—the so-called “Culiacanazo.” 

Federal forces had captured El Chapo’s son. Hours later, following blockades and shootouts, it was Andrés Manuel López Obrador himself who ordered his release. And speaking of the president, the “Fourth Transformation” rarely mentions his visits to Badiraguato, El Chapo’s hometown. 

During one of these visits, in March 2020, he took a moment to greet the drug lord’s mother, María Consuelo Loa. One of the most critical points of the crisis in Sinaloa occurred in April 2026. The U.S. Department of Justice filed formal charges—not against drug traffickers, but against 10 current and former state officials, including Governor Rubén Rocha Moya and Senator Enrique Inzunza. 

They are accused of collaborating with “Los Chapitos.” Questioning foreign interference is legitimate, but using it as a smokescreen to absolve the past is an insult to the victims of organized crime—not just in Sinaloa, but across the entire country. Is all this the fault of foreign interference, or is the official narrative merely trying to prevent an investigation into those who protected and enabled the growth of drug trafficking from positions of power? 

Source: ADN Noticias