CULIACAN (Mexico), June 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The fight for control of drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s legacy spilled into the open on Thursday after a gun battle between rival Mexican gangs left 16 dead, authorities said.
The 16 men, heavily armed and wearing bullet-proof vests, died in a six-hour running shootout near the rural town of Tepuche in northwestern Sinaloa province.
“A van with seven bodies was located” after an initial clash, while nine bodies were discovered following a second exchange, Sinaloa’s state security minister Cristobal Castaneda told reporters.
Castaneda said Wednesday’s clash near Tepuche, 25 kilometers from Sinaloa capital Culiacan, was “part of a struggle between two organized crime gangs in the area.”
Local media reported the conflict involved members of the Sinaloa cartel — pitching a part of the gang run by the sons of ex-leader “El Chapo” Guzman against a faction led by Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, long considered the group’s number two.
The reports pointed to a deep split in what remains one of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartels, despite El Chapo’s 2016 capture and subsequent extradition to the United States, where he is serving a life sentence.
Castaneda said the rival groups had clashed on eight separate occasions in the area since May 29.
In the aftermath of the shootings, police confiscated 40 high caliber weapons, 10 grenades, 36,000 rounds of ammunition and 24 vehicles, the official said.
Seven of the victims were identified as residents of Tepuche.
“Most of the people are gone,” said a local resident who gave her name as Modesta. “But we stayed, because we have animals here we have to look after,” the 63-year-old woman said. “But if the government tell us we have to leave, we’ll leave.”
Organized crime has remained active in Mexico, despite confinement due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Specialists and human rights defenders attribute Mexico’s drug-related violence to a controversial military crackdown on organized crime launched in late 2006 by then president Felipe Calderon.
According to official data, since then there have been more than 287,000 murders in the country, though it is not clear how many cases are linked to organized crime.
