By Kimberly James; WBAP and KLIF News, Dallas, Texas.
(WBAP/KLIF) – Has the war between cartel factions and even cartel against cartel begun in northern Mexico? The murders of a dozen people in Sinaloa state, home to the Sinaloa cartel made famous by “El Chapo” appear to show a war heating up following the arrest of two major Sinaloa cartel operatives in the United States.
July 25th, a small plane flew in from the Mexico’s northern region to an airport in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, right next to El Paso. Aboard, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, one of four sons of El Chapo reported running Sinaloa cartel operations after the extradition to the United States of his father. It’s believed Joaquin surrendered to U.S. officials for one or several reasons still being debated, which include trading information for a lighter prison sentence and perhaps that or conditions for his likewise jailed brother Ovidio Guzman Lopez and father, Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, or, El Chapo.
But also aboard was the head of another faction or “arm” of the cartel, Ismael Zambada Garcia, or, “El Mayo”. The 76-year old’s fame grew as he’d reportedly never served a day in jail, was rarely seen, and in fact, like another cartel head who remains elusive at best, it wasn’t known if Zambada was still alive, amid rumors of ill health for years. In a statement released by his Dallas-based attorney Frank Perez, Zambada maintained he’d been tricked into attending a meeting in Sinaloa to help settle a dispute between a couple of high ranking Sinaloa state officials, but was instead set up: tackled, hooded, tied up, thrown into the back of a pickup truck, driven to an airstrip, forced onto a plane and flown to the United States against his will. Further, Zambada’s statement points to Joaquin Guzman as among the group he believes plotted the kidnapping and forced “surrender” in the United States. Both individuals have long been wanted for a lengthy list of drug, weapons and money laundering charges in the United States.
Generally, when a major cartel head is taken “out”, the fight is on between cartels and/or factions to gain control of lucrative routes and contacts. The surrender of Joaquin Guzman and, statements of surprise maintained by American officials in the concurrent arrival of Zambada would likely apply in this case. Those who study Mexican cartels are awaiting a “war’ between the Guzman, or El Chapo related faction and the Zambada, or “El Mayo” faction. In fact it now appears the minimum twelve bodies discovered tortured and killed, just within the past several days, are all believed to be those associated with the El Mayo faction.
El Mayo had several sons, all believed groomed for eventual takeover of their father’s business, but extradition to the U.S., jail and death has met many of them. Officials say El Mayo had two sons left in Mexico that might take that position, due to age and now, arrest and confinement of Zambada, who may be planning retaliation against El Chapo’s sons for the kidnapping reported by Zambada. Nonetheless, the murders of faction-based workers and some believed at the top of the Mayo faction are piling up; all corpses discovered tortured, say Mexican officials, reportedly investigating the murders.
Analysts say despite frustration expressed by Mexican President Andres Lopez-Obrador over reported silence in answer to questions from the U.S. seeking information about the reported abduction of Zambada, government does not readily get involved in cartel wars, because cartel players have damaging information on officials. Mexico has sent troops to the Sinaloa state expecting increased fighting in response to the Zambada vaccuum; numbers estimated reach from a couple hundred to in excess of two thousand.
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