Culiacan is once again on high alert after a new escalation of violence. In the last few hours, there have been several armed confrontations, mainly in the southern part of the city, which has generated fear among the local people.

The violent events, which have put the residents of Culiacan on edge, have revived the nightmare of past episodes of violence that have marked the city in previous years. Although the authorities have not yet issued an official statement confirming the nature of these confrontations, various sources have indicated that they would be related to a dispute between local criminal groups.

Although the authorities have not yet officially confirmed the participation of specific groups in these confrontations, various sources have indicated that these events are related to a dispute between factions of organized crime.

Among them, the participation of the group "La Mayiza" has been mentioned, who are led by Ismael Zambada Sicarios, alias El Mayito Flaco.

In various videos circulating on social media, the lieutenant of Mayito Flaco, is Pedro Vidana alias "Comanche" who can be seen and heard ordering his sicarios to kill and destroy all the people in the capital of Sinaloa who "smell like a Chapo."

He could be heard in radio transmissions being circulating on social media making threats against "La Chapiza" of Los Chapitos.

The resumption of these confrontations has generated great concern among the population, who demand that the authorities redouble their efforts to guarantee security and restore public order in the city.

Is the Sinaloa governor Rubén Rocha Moya hiding from La Mayiza? He is accused of colluding with Los Chapitos. Federal troops have arrived to reinforce Culiacan.

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Note: I am going to revisit the events of the LeBaron massacre that occurred in 2019 in Sonora and the background on how it happened. A lot of the details in this information were never made public. I chose not to post this information back then because it would have put some people at risk. But things have changed since then as most of the principals have either been killed or arrested. Be aware that most of the information in this story was told to me by sources that were in positions to know, but also it has not been collaborated or confirmed.

The Attack on Agua Prieta, Sonora

On November 4, 2019, at about 4:40am my phone started ringing with pending messages. I was asleep and initially, I ignored the messages but then decided to check them. The messages were from a source out of Sonora that I had been talking to about the war between Los Cazadores and the Caborca cartel. This source was based out of Altar, Sonora and was one of the Lugar Tenientes (Lieutenants) of Jesús Humberto Limón López, "El Noveno" or "El Cazador." He had told me that he, along with three other men, had been sent to the US border town of Agua Prieta (AP) to monitor the situation. There had been some internal war in AP between two cells that had been operating there on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel (CDS). Things had calmed down when he was sent there but both factions were providing conflicting information as to what was actually happening in AP. My source was told not to intervene or get involved by taking sides but just monitor the situation and report back.

In the message he told me several trucks had entered AP around 3:30AM and got into a shootout with some of the people of Los Paredes/Los Salazar. He told me he thought it might be the Caborca cartel of Los Quinteros. He told me 4 men of the Los Paredes/Los Salazar were killed, but the Mexican authorities later reported that 2 sicarios were killed and some were injured. There was no sign of police or military presence during the shootout. Many people could see the trucks and hear the sounds of gunfire that disrupted the silence of the night.

My source had reported the shootout to his bosses who said they would send reinforcements from southern Chihuahua, possibly people of La Gente Nueva (a Sinaloa cell operating in southern Chihuahua).

Police and military forces finally showed up to secure the area. AP was briefly put on lock down and the US border town of Douglas, Arizona sent out a travel warning.

I later learned that the commando that attacked AP was actually people of La Linea. It was rare for La Linea, who works for the Juarez cartel, to dare to enter Sonora. Sonora is and has always been controlled by the Sinaloa cartel. The Caborca cartel that was led by Rafel Caro Quintero (RCQ) had forged an alliance with the Juarez cartel. After the arrest of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán there was a fight to take control of Sonora. The four main groups fighting for the state of Sonora was Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, Los Chapitos, Aureliano Guzmán Loera "El Guano" and RCQ (leader of Caborca Cartel). My thought was that Juarez had decided to move into Sonora to support the Caborca cartel.

Part of this group of La Linea was also present south of AP and near the town of Bavispe, Sonora. They were looking for members of Sinaloa to engage. They came across a three-vehicle convoy of the Mormon family of LeBaron that were on their way to the US for a wedding. The sicarios of la Linea opened fire at the three vehicles thinking it was part of the Sinaloa cartel and killed three women and six children (there were no men in the caravan). Later I was told that the group that attacked the Lebaron family was led by Freddy Calles Romero "El Tolteca" and the group that attacked AP was led by Gildardo Palomino Nieblas "El G3."

Side Note: There was an incident with OG Shadow (of all people), who had a very popular Youtube channel, and his theme was talking about Mexican cartels. He kept telling people during his podcasts that he was located in Culican. I was never a regular viewer of his podcasts. One day my source told me that OG Shadow had been talking bad about Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar. They were trying to find him, and he was asking me where Shadow was located at. My source thought he was one of "my people." I told him he was not one of my people, and in fact, I didn't even have "people."

A few days later my source told me that they had located Shadow, that he was in Empalme, Sonora, and they were going to pay him a visit. Apparently, Shadow managed to escape to the US. My source had accused me of giving Shadow heads up. I told him that I did not, as I did not communicate with Shadow and I did not know who he was. I eventually lost contact with this source. Much later, I was also told by someone that my source had been killed in a topon (encounter) with military forces in Sonora.

Who was Behind the LeBaron Massacre

I also had the occasion to talk to another confidential source who was a family member of G3 and was very close to him. He told me G3 was like a father to him and most of his family worked for him. He said a large part of his family worked for G3 in different roles such as gunmen, crossing people and drugs and even one of them was G3's right hand man. He told me how things unfolded with G3 while working under Los Paredes in Agua Prieta (AP) and how he switched to La Linea.

Basically in 2019 there was a war in Agua Prieta where a very close friend of Gildardo Nieblas "G3", Martín Torres "El Chupón" was killed. It was a strategy by Los Paredes, that with the green light from Los Chapitos, they wanted to take out El Chupón and G3.

They wanted to take him out because G3 was gaining more power and popularity, more than he should have. All the people looked at G3 as the boss, when in reality that power was held by Los Paredes. That is why they wanted to take out G3 by all means necessary. There were rumors that they were going to kill family and friends of G3 in AP. This forced the family and friends of G3 to leave Agua Prieta, as Los Paredes wanted to kill them to get to G3.

This caused an internal war between Los Paredes and the people of G3. G3 gathered his people to warn them of Los Paredes that were trying to betray them into surrendering. There was a time during the war when Marco Antonio Paredes Jr "Markitos" told G3 to put down his weapons and meet on the banks of AP to reach a truce.

G3 did not agree because something told him that they were going to kill him. He ordered El Chupon not to go to the meeting because he sensed something was wrong. But El Chupon, considering the danger to his family, went ahead and attended the meeting. Just as G3 had warned, Los Paredes killed El Chupón.

They tortured him to get information about where G3 was and the location of his people. They also wanted to know the location of the money that he had accumulated during the years while he was operating on the border.

El Chupón refused to tell them what they wanted to know, and they killed him.

Many of the people that belonged to G3 became afraid for themselves and their families and decided to join the ranks of Los Paredes. This included Martin Siqueiros "El Tin Tin" and Leonel Toscano Cuevas "El Tigre."

Los Paredes started to abduct, torture and kill family and friends of G3.

So G3 went to Sinaloa to ask for support from the only person he believed could give him some support and perhaps an opportunity to win that war in AP, which was Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada.

But Ismael did not want to take any sides and left them alone to fight each other. Eventually, there was a meeting between G3, El Mayo, Los Chapitos, Tin Tin, El Tigre and Markitos to discuss what was going to happen

They could not reach an agreement and only resulted in threats levied against G3. The meeting concluded with the understanding that there would be blood against the friends and family of G3.

The only option for G3 was to go to Chihuahua and ask for support from the cartel of La Linea. G3 also took Francisco Misael Valencia Villaescusa "El Missa" with him to join with La Linea but El Missa was killed in October 2019 by Los Paredes. El Tolteca, who had also been a leader in AP for the cell of the Sinaloa Cartel would also go to Chihuahua to join G3.

La Linea agreed to help G3 but they put conditions on him. They would give him people and weapons but only If he cleaned up his plaza in AP. And they sent G3 and Tolteca to kill the adversaries of La Linea, which he did successfully.

The interest of the Juarez cartel to enter Sonora was to support the Caborca cartel and the interest of G3 was to seek revenge and eliminate Los Paredes. G3 killed people of Los Moritos (Ariel Arvizu) that were part of Gente Nueva of El Jaguar and his Lobos. He opened a path through towns and cities like Casas Grandes, Palomas and small ranches in the surrounding area.

G3 had people in AP and felt confident he could get some of his people back. He arrived in AP in the blanket of darkness on November 4, 2019 and had already alerted some of his people in AP. What he did not expect, is that the people of Los Paredes and los Salazar were already waiting for him. G3 did not sustain any loses and took out the group he encountered. After the skirmish, he was laying low, waiting for his next move. That is when he learned of the LeBaron massacre.

The incident that happened with the LeBarons was orchestrated by El Tolteca thinking they were adversaries but in reality, it was the LeBaron family. The people responsible for the massacre had been working under G3 and that is why they put the blame on him. During the attack, G3 was hiding in Agua Prieta, trying to figure out his next strategy and what was his next move after the attack in AP.

It is said that when G3 and Tolteca had already completed their agreement and it was La Linea's turn to fulfill their Part of the deal, it was around the same time when G3 was arrested.

According to the Mexican attorney general's office, 40 suspects belonging to La Linea had been identified, although some only by their alias. Only 13 suspects have actually been arrested, but only two have been charged with murder. G3 and Tolteca were arrested as part of the 13. The active police Chief of Janos, Chihuahua, Fidel Alejandro Villegas Villegas, was arrested in connection with the massacre. The most recent, was arrested in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was Gustavo Ivan Hernandez-Cabral El Pacquiao.

El G3 (according to my source and family of G3)

G3 came from a humble home from a town in Sonora called San Hidalgo where a few years after being born they left for Agua Prieta to seek a better life on the border. But the situation was very difficult.

With many mouths to feed and little money in their pockets, G3 realized that even as a child, he had to financially help his family. He did not have a father and came from an unstable family. He grew up with cousins and uncles who were using drugs and even when he was a child, they tried to get him to try some of the drugs.

G3 was a very good student in school, earning the respect of teachers, even rewarding him to a trip to the United States to visit Disneyland for his good performance in his 6 years of primary school. His dream was to be the pillar of the family from a very young age, thus abandoning school to go sell tortillas that his grandmother made and going to work in a gas company at the age of 12.

He lived a very poor and humble life. He lived in a house with only a kitchen and living room. A total of 8 family members lived in the small house. But after he got involved in the narco life and the first thing he did to prove that he was actually a good person, he built upon that little humble family house. He always put the needs of his family first. He provided for each member of his family, businesses to make a honest living, cars and houses. He was not the best person in the world, but he was not the worst either. Every Christmas people from the neighborhood would line up outside of G3's house to receive money, clothes and tennis shoes.

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Claudia Sheinbaum’s margin of victory in Mexico’s presidential election turned out to be larger than many forecasters expected. The candidate of the MORENA party obtained 59.3% of the vote, more than double that of her rival, Xóchitl Gálvez, whom she beat by almost 32 percentage points. She beat her in almost every state in the republic.

Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, former head of government of Mexico City, belongs to the leftist party MORENA founded by the current president of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Xóchitl Gálvez was running under the PAN, PRI AND PRD known to be more conservative party.

Now that the election is over, we are starting to see accusations of fraud, but the problems is deeper than what we think. Allegations of fraud is the least of the problems in this Mexican election.

Mexicans went to the polls under the shadow of violence with 37 candidates murdered. Two days before the vote, the elections were tainted with more than 320 attacks against politicians in this election, according to the Electoral Coordinator. Guerrero, Chiapas and Michoacán accounted for half of the homicides.

This is how a sicario executed José Alfredo Cabrera Barrientos of the PRI-PAN-PRD who was a candidate for the mayoral office in Coyuca de Benítez, Guerrero while campaigning.

José Alfredo Cabrera Barrientos was executed in a basketball court while campaigning. The sicario was killed by the escorts of the candidate.

The murders of candidates have become a phenomenon of Mexico local politics.

“I don't think we have to wait for the number of fatalities to know if this will exceeded past violence during presidential elections. This electoral process has been the most violent when you look at other aspects of the nature of violence, such as attacks and threats,” said Daniela Arias during an interview with the newspaper El Paiz. Arias is the Electoral Coordinator.

There are other evidence that suggests that violence in this election reached levels that have not been seen before. At the end of April, there were around 170 incidents against politicians.

This election marked a trend that was not foreseen: organized crime crossed a new line by imposing its law in the middle of the campaign.

In addition to the 37 murders of candidates, another 58 homicides were recorded directly related to the election; this among family members, politicians who were not participating in the race and campaign workers.

The violence has touched all political parties. MORENA has the highest number of homicides of candidates with 11.

The most common attacks were threats: 131 politicians were intimidated in this electoral process and more than a hundred decided to abandon their aspirations for fear. This figure may be just the tip of the iceberg, because many threats are not reported or made public.

The Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador predicted that the elections “ will be the cleanest, freest elections in the history of Mexico.”

López Obrador is the mentor of Sheinbaum. We can expect the status quo, more hugs.

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Heavily armed confrontation took place between state police and the Cartel Del Noreste (CDN) just 2 miles from the United States (Texas) border.

At least two police officers were killed, and several were injured. The firefight took place on a highway between 3 different states (the states of Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas).

Cartel Del Noreste members wanted to enter Coahuila via the La Ribereña highway from the state of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas. The Cartel also created crossing points, seeking to cross paths with the military or the national guard in order to confront them.

Last week, the CDN Cartel carried out at least 7 attacks against Mexican forces in Coahuila and used at least two snipers during these engagements (two of them were fired from more than a kilometer away).

Mayor Norma Treviño confirmed the deaths of the state police officers and ordered ambulance support to the scene. She conveyed her condolences to the relatives of the fallen policemen who laid down their lives to maintain the security and peace of the state during the encounter

Cartel del Noreste (CDN); FEC "FUERZAS ESPECIALES COAHUILA" CHUKYS originally from Nuevo Laredo. Some recent photos of some of the sicarios are from the group “Chuckys” or “Alfas” commanded by Ricky. In one photo you can see the nickname of one of them which apparently says “Ramses Alfa” on the radio.

This CDN criminal is nicknamed "Trasky" or "Chucky” and is said to be the master mind behind the attack on the state police who were ambushed by the CDN.

Videos of the battle from State police guarding the front, trying to prevent the entrance of CDN into Coahuila:

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Rival groups of the Gulf Cartel (CDG) from Reynosa and Matamoros intensified at the end of 2023 with shootouts, pursuits, burning of vehicles, etc. Cartels continue to fight for the plaza of Río Bravo. Tamaulipas authorities confirmed armed confrontations without specifying casualties.

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The fentanyl that is pouring into the United States from Mexico is at a crisis level. Most of all the precursor chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl comes from China and is synthesized into fentanyl in Mexico. Over 90% of all seizures of fentanyl happen at the US southern border. Border patrol officers are over extended with complex problems that have very political implications. While the large influx of migration from south and central America at the US border, who are seeking asylum and drug trafficking at border check points are distinct, but when combined, they create overlapping problems. The large migration at the border places strain on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) service to focus more effectively on the drug trafficking problem. There are not enough resources to combat both issues simultaneously. But the poison of fentanyl flooding the streets of the United States is and should be a major concern.

Last year over 79,000 people in the United States died from overdoses from the highly lethal fentanyl. The crisis is not just a public health emergency but plays a major role in cost to the US economy. The crisis is so serious that the US has called it a significant threat to the US national security. For that reason, the US has recently taken an aggressive approach to fight the trafficking of fentanyl from Mexico. The US treasury has strengthened sanctions against trafficking organization in Mexico, that tries to target financial facilitators.

The US has placed pressure on the Mexican administration of Manuel Lopez Obrador and to a degree, also on the Chinese government. The Sinaloa cartel of Los Chapitos (sons of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman) have been the leading criminal organization in Mexico who are mostly behind the trafficking of fentanyl into the US. The United States Department of Justice has made efforts to target the Chapito network and has made significant advances to dismantle some of their fentanyl operations. The DEA unsealed drug trafficking charges against more than 20 Sinaloa Cartel members and their associates. This included all the sons of El Chapo; Ovidio Guzmán López, Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar and Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Sálazar. The DEA has also managed to infiltrate the Trafficking network of Los Chapitos managed by one of the brothers, Ovidio Guzman "El Raton."

In January 2023 Ovidio was arrested in Culiacan after a successful Mexican military operation. A previous attempt to arrest Ovidio that happened in October 2019, known as "El Culiacanazo," had not been very successful. Lopez Obrador had ordered his military to release Ovidio after heavily armed Sinaloa cartel members overwhelmed military and police forces in the city of Culiacan. But this time around Ovidio was quickly extradited to the United States to faces charges related to drug trafficking. That sent a message to the rest of Los Chapitos, who for many years had been untouchable.

Los Chapitos started a campaign to give a perception that they were not behind the production of fentanyl. They released a propaganda letter to the Mexican media where they denied they were behind the production of fentanyl and said that they were not leading the Sinaloa cartel. They also posted narco banners around the state of Sinaloa and other northern border states where they banned the sale, production, and trafficking of fentanyl. They went as far as to execute several independent manufactures of fentanyl and display their bodies next to the fentanyl they were manufacturing. Los Chapitos have tried to keep a low profile and have made every effort to lessen the heat put on by the US government, specifically the DEA.

Except they had a hard time trying to get their organization's leadership to lay low, as most were accustomed of generating violence with total impunity and flaunting their wealth in public. This was the case with their high-ranking plaza boss in Culiacan and security chief, Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas "El Nini." El Nini was out of control and refused to heed the warning by his bosses to keep a low profile. Los Chapitos gave the green light to the Mexican government to arrest El Nini and subsequently, El Nini was arrested in November of 2023. The US is seeking his extradition.

The result of these efforts saw a 60% reduction of seizures of fentanyl in the US border from April to October. The number of the overdoses from fentanyl also saw a small reduction in numbers. A lot of the decline can be attributed to Los Chapitos cutting down on production. But one thing that is for certain, this strategy is most likely just temporary, and it’s just a way to allow for things to cool off. Be assured that they have not totally stopped the production of fentanyl, they just slowed it down some. They are just trying to give a perception. They will not allow other waring rival cartels to make high profits from fentanyl, as they will use the profit to get stronger and become more dominant. That is the way of the Mexican cartels that fight among each other for plazas and control.

The supply of fentanyl to the U.S will probably continue unabated and will probably be taken over by other organizations, such as the Jalisco cartel (CJNG), who will take advantage of the open opportunity. The lure of the profit of fentanyl is too great and too lucrative to be ignored.

The fentanyl crisis has played center stage during this presidential debate on how to fix the problem. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has vowed to send US special forces into Mexico on "day one" of his administration if elected. Former President Donald Trump vowed to "inflict maximum damage" on cartels using special forces, cyber-war and "other overt and covert actions."

And just recently, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law a package of border security legislation by cracking down on human smuggling and funding the ongoing construction of Texas’ border wall. These measures were announced as an unprecedented effort to hold the line and protect Texans from the record level of illegal immigration, weapons, and deadly drugs pouring into Texas from Mexico. This measure will allow local law enforcement to detain and deport illegal migrants back to Mexico.

Regardless of what happens, one thing is clear, the fight to keep illicit drugs from pouring into every city of the US will continue to be a daunting task that will require more resources and develop a meaningful strategic relationship with Mexico and China. The key to even coming close and possibly eradicating drug trafficking lies in the ability to shut down the flow from the source, anything else, is just a futile attempt to fight an unwinnable war.

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The the convoy of sicarios of Chano Limones and Chito Cano of CJNG in Nueva Italia, Michoacan.

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Sicarios of MZ(CDS) fighting against Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) in the mountains.

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Sicarios of the CJNG in the mountains of Michoacan taking a break while reading comments on their Twitter account.

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Miguel Angel Zequera García and Perla Ivonne García Buenavista are federal ministerial police in Reynosa, Tamaulipas. They were highly intoxicated disturbing the peace while brandishing a firearm and making threats of killing someone.

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A video showing eight bodies left on the side of the road in San Fernando, Tamaulipas. There is a narco banner signed by the Gulf cartel where they make threats against “CJNG” and “MZ.”

"This message is directed to you CJNG and MZ. Here in Tamaulipas you are not welcomed. Do not allow yourselves to be fooled by the idiot of Chuy, he does not even take care of his own people, yet alone take care of you.

Attentive Cartel del Golfo"

They are more likely talking about Chuy, leader of Zeta Vieja Escuela (ZVE). There is chatter on the internet that "MZ" in the banner does not refer to Mayo Zambada but most likely Metros/Zetas and more probable signed by Grupo Escorpion of the CDG. Recently there has been topones (confrontations) in San Fernando region.

On social media they are saying 6 bodies, but I counted seven for sure, but most likely eight.

Grupo Escorpion released a video of the eight members who’s bodies were found. The men are being interrogated and are later executed with gunshots to the head. This video does not include the portion of the execution.

The men say that they belong to either Los Metros, CJNG or Mayos and came to San Fernanado to back up ZVE. This clarifies the content of the narco banner that MZ refers to Mayo Zambada.

One of the men is a migrant from Guatemala and says he ran out of money to get to Houston and was forced to join CJNG.

Some on social media find it unlikely that these members would be from the CJNG or Mayos sent to Tamaulipas to fight Grupo Escorpion on behalf of ZVE. Many times, the people that are captured are told what to say.

Source: Reynosa Codigo Rojo

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His name is Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas known as "El Nini," "Chicken Little" or "El 09." He is said to be the head of security for Los Chapitos by many trusted mainstream media sources, along with government officials and interviews of people close to him. But regardless, one thing is for sure, he is a high-ranking sicario for the Sinaloa cartel that led the first Culiacanazo that unleashed a wave of attacks in the streets of Culiacan and generated fierce confrontations with the Armed Forces. This attack culminated in the release of Ovidio Guzmán El Raton, the son of El Chapo, ordered released by the Mexican President himself, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO). El Raton was finally caught in the second Culiacanaso on January 5, 2023 and extradited to the USA.

They say that in the Sinaloa Cartel they nicknamed him El Nini because when he suspected that someone wanted to harm his bosses, “ni preguntaba ni dejaba vivos” (he neither asked nor left them alive).

Dámaso López Serrano, "El Mini Lic" has gone out of his way to start a campaign against Los Chapitos on social media and in interviews. Mini lic, who is said to be in the witness protection program in the US, provided exclusive interviews to Luis Chaparro (a freelance journalist) and journalist Anabel Hernández García. Mini Lic is said to be the star witness against Los Chapitos if they are ever arrested and extradited to the US. According to Mini Lic, El Nini began murdering for fun at the age of 19 and rose through the ranks of the Sinaloa cartel. "What this blood thirsty sicario did to gain the approval from Los Chapitos was to murder poor people, workers, bricklayers, and even athletes. He slaughtered people to demonstrate his cold blood before Los Chapitos," this according to Anabel Hernández who interviewed Mini Lic. Anabel Hernández is a journalist for the newspaper El Universal and a published author

There was a burner Twitter account on X (formerly Twitter) by El Mini Lic where he alleged to clarify some of Nini's roles with Los Chapitos.

"El Nini was not head of security for Los Chapitos. Nini was actually the plaza boss of Culiacan, Sinaloa. He was in charge of carrying out executions ordered by Ivan. The real leader of the security of Los Chapitos is El Gavilan, who coordinates Los Chapito's escort. El Gavilan should be the ones who takes over the operations left by El Nini as plaza boss of Culiacan. The rumors that Los Chapitos are planning to get rid of Piyi and El Perris, who are the two members closest to Nini, is not true.

The truth is that Ivan turned over Nini to the Mexican government with the condition that the government kill Nini at the time of his capture. They were to make it look like a confrontation had occurred. Except, the military failed to follow the directions at the time Nini was captured. Ivan like his father, El Chapo, has turned over many of their leaders to the Mexican government. One example is Ivan turned over the leader of Los Chimalis, El Pancho Chimal, to be executed in September of 2016. Ivan also ordered the ambush of military forces to rescue El Kevin so that he did not talk. The body of El Kevin was later found in Novalto, Sinaloa."

Tony Montana

Los Chapitos had a lot of anger toward Tony Montana, because he had done so much against them. We are talking about Jesús Antonio Muñoz "Tony Montana" who was one of the most powerful and feared gunmen of Los Dámaso (Dámaso López Núñez "Licenciado" and his son Dámaso López Serrano “Mini Lic”). He had several topones (confrontations) with Los Chapitos. He created a futile war on behalf of Los Dámaso that surely, he would never win. After the fall of El Chapo in 2016, Los Chapitos began to claim ownerships of plazas in the state of Sinaloa. Among them was Villa Juárez, a strategic drug trafficking point located between Navolato and Culiacán. Except Villa Juárez was controlled by the powerful Montana under the command of Los Dámaso. Los Chapitos contested la plaza and attempted to take it from Los Dámaso.

Los Chapitos dispatched a cell known as Los Chimalis, to confront the forces of Montana. Los Chimalis was a commando of Francisco Javier Zazueta Rosales, "Pancho Chimal," who worked for Aureliano Guzmán Loera "El Guano," brother of El Chapo. This created an outright war, in numerous topones in the small agricultural town of Villa Juárez that spread fear among the people in the region. The battle between Los Dámasos and Los Chapitos set the plaza on fire. The power base of Los Chapitos and their uncle El Guano was being challenged by the current plaza boss, El Montana.

In 2017 Los Dámaso were running low of finances and resources. Montana resorted to committing kidnappings and extortions to finance the war. Except, luck was running out. In April of 2017 military forces were raiding houses to take out the remaining structure of Los Dámaso. Weeks later the infamous Licenciado would fall, being arrested and ultimately extradited to the US. At the front was left El Mini lic to take over the battle. But soon after, Mini Lic abandoned the futile war, leaving his people to the mercy of Los Chapitos. He turned himself over to US authorities.

What followed next were the executions of former Dámaso gunmen by Los Chapitos. The executions at the hands of Los Chapitos were relentless. El Nini aggressively pursued those abandoned by the Damaso without mercy. For Montana, his death sentence was imminent. Los Chapitos had warned Montana that he would not live past to 2019. They threatened Montana and his family. In December of 2018 sicarios of Los Chapitos kidnapped Montana's relatives. They sent Montana a chilling message, his life in exchanged for that of his family.

Montana surrendered to El Nini, by saying, "el pedo es conmigo no con ellos," (the shit is with me, not with them). El Montana was interrogated, recorded and executed by El Nini. His body was found on New Year's Eve, exactly on the morning of December 31, leaning on a pillar of the welcome arch to the municipality of Eldorado, a community located 18 miles south of Culiacan. He showed signs of torture in different parts of his body, especially on his face, which was bruised. His feet were tied with gray industrial-type tape that ended at his sandals. On each of them there were the letters M and Z carved with a knife (common initials for “Mayo Zambada”).

There is another event where El Nini was allegedly involved.

The ambush, recue and the killing of El Kevin

On September 30, 2016 a convoy of 17 military forces were escorting an ambulance that was transporting Julio Óscar Ortiz Vega, “El Kevin” from a hospital in Badiguarato to another hospital in Culiacan. El Kevin had previously sustained some injuries in Badiraguato during a confrontation with military forces. El Kevin belonged to a cell of the Sinaloa cartel, under the command of Aurelio Guzmán El Guano, brother of El Chapo. El Kevin was not considered part of the high command but knew a lot of the operations of the Sinaloa cartel. What the military escort did not know was that while they were escorting the ambulance, the eyes of the cartel that see and hear everything, was watching them.

The newspaper Reforma cited Army sources as saying that the municipal police of Culiacán, who are at the service of the Sinaloa Cartel, surveilled the military convoy. The municipal police had tapped the radios of the military and claimed to have not seen 60 sicarios in 15 armored trucks travelling in the open road, this despite there being video surveillance cameras in most of the streets. The 60 Sicarios onboard armored trucks and armed with 50 caliber Barrett machine guns and grenades attacked the military forces who were escorting Kevin. The military escort was caught by surprise during a dark sky and the sicarios easily overcame the military forces that were outnumbered and outgunned. 5 military soldiers were killed, while 10 were injured, including the ambulance driver.

Two military style Hummer vehicles were set on fire. El Kevin was taken out of the ambulance and taken away. The Attorney General's Office identified Francisco Javier Zazueta, El Pancho Chimal, as one of the perpetrators of the attack. El Pancho Chimal is the leader of the sicarios Los Chimalis, an armed wing of Los Chapitos. However, journalist Jorge Fernández Menéndez reported that Los Chapitos ordered El Nini to attack the military forces in order to prove his loyalty to them. He lays the blame at El Nini and not at Pancho Chimal. Los Ninis with 60 heavily armed sicarios attacked the smaller forces of only 17.

Later, the body of El Kevin was found in Novalto encobijado (wrapped in a blanket). The body showed signs of torture and gunshots, in addition to being in an advanced state of decomposition. El Kevin showed signs that at one time he was dragged. Los Chapitos had a vested interest in removing El Kevin so that he did not talk.

Tension brewing

Then, there was the tension between Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and Los Chapitos. First was the trial of El Chapo. The son of Mayo Zambada, Vicente “Vicentillo” Zambada Niebla and Mayo's brother Reynaldo "El Rey" Zambada testified against El Chapo. That did not sit well with Los Chapitos. Then, on the first Culiacanaso, the faction of El Mayo, led by Juan Jose Ponce Felix “El Ruso,” refused to assist in the rescue attempt of Ovidio “El Raton” Guzman. This caused friction between Los Ninis and Los Rusos, that often resulted in gun battles in and around Culiacan. El Mayo finally intervened and sent Los Rusos to Mexicali, to avoid further conflict.

Nini falls, questions remain?

On November 22, 2023 El Nini was arrested in Culiacan, Sinaloa without a single shot being fired. He was obviously caught by surprise, he did not know it was coming. It was so sudden that his sicarios in Culiacan did not have time to react. In fact, he did not have any security detail with him when he was arrested. Were his people told to stand down by orders of Los Chapitos? It has been said that El Panu, personal body guard of Los Chapitos, personally ordered La Chapiza to stand down and allow the capture of El Nini. So much was the surprise by El Nini, that he ran to the roof top of the house in his underwear as the military forces were on top of him. His powerful group of sicarios were absent, there was no Culiacanaso for him. Military forces had been pursuing him for days, they hit numerous locations where he was known to have been staying, including one where they found his pet tigers.

Mini Lic shared the following information on his burner Twitter account on November 7, 2023 on the reason for Nini's arrest

"Information from the Sinaloa cartel. In recent days, a meeting was held between CDS leaders where Ivan, Alfredo and Joaquin Guzman were present along with Oscar Noe Medina, Jose Angel Cannobio and Kevin Gil to discuss the deprivation of life or surrender to the government of Nestor Isidro Perez Salas alias the NINI or the 19 head of hitmen of the chapitos faction, the order was given by IAGS, since they need to lower the pressure that the government has on them, the reason is that the Guzman brothers They gave the order to execute innocent people, including a minor under 13 years old, just for being relatives of an informant from a government agency. The event occurred on October 28 of this year in Tamazula, Durango, Mexico. The situation got out of control and the pressure from the government is too strong, which is why they chose to blame NINI and inform the government that he was the intellectual and material author of said event and to try to reach an agreement they negotiated to hand over the head of NINI. That's why lAGS passed on the location of the tigers of the disgraced hitman, which is a shame that they don't even care for their own people. Later we will have an episode on this topic but discussed in more depth with more details"

Due to the pressure the US had put on Mexico over the trafficking of Fentanyl to the US by Los Chapitos, Los Chapitos had changed strategy, to keep a low profile. They even banned the production of Fentanyl in Culiacan, or at least that is the perception they wanted to portrait. But Nini had been an out-of-control tiger that they could not tame. El Nini had been ignoring the instruction of his bosses, constantly heating up the plaza. He was always flaunting his wealth and power. Causing disturbances and killing people at will. Throwing parties and paying popular musical groups/singers to write and sing corridos of himself. It is rumored that Nini paid a lot of money to have the mega super star group Los Tucanes de Tijuana sing a corrido about him. This was hardly in keeping a low profile. The new song, El Comandante 09, premiered on YouTube on November 22, 2023, the same day El Nini was arrested.

The corrido El Comandante 09 performed by Los Tacnes de Tijuana.

Who will take over the operation left by El Nini? Word on the streets is that Los Chapitos have selected their new security chief as Oscar Noe Medina Gonzalez, "El Panu." He has connections to the Tapia family of the Golden Triangle, who have been trafficking drugs for Sinaloa for years. Regardless of who is arrested, be assured that in Sinaloa it will remain business as usual.

A music video by Peso Pluma and Raúl Vega called El Belicon. The song is about El Nini and it is said to have been filmed at Nini’s home.

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In Chihuahua, the Juarez cartel was led by Amado Carrillo Fuentes; in Sinaloa, the Sinaloa cartel was led by El Chapo Guzman, Mayo Zambada, Juan Jose Esparragoza El Azul and El Guero Palma.

The Arellano Felix inherited the plaza of Tijuana from Jesus Labra Aviles, their known leaders were Ramon, Benjamin and Francisco Rafael Arellano Felix who took the border city as the home base of operation for the cartel . The two cartels only had two things in common, their business of drug trafficking and their origins were from Sinaloa.

In the 80s and 90s, the organization dedicated itself to distributing cocaine and marijuana from its Colombian suppliers, the famous Cali cartel in Colombia, with the objective of introducing as much coke as possible into the United States. There was so much growth that at the same time there was the growth of other organizations where the friction for the control of drug distribution in Mexico began.

Joaquin Guzman Loera and Mayo Zambada formed alliances with Amado Carrillo Fuentes where he facilitated the introduction and handling of drugs across the Juarez border, the same was true of the Arellano Felix brothers, who charged him a share for trafficking in their territory. The activities carried out in Tijuana were so great that El Chapo and Mayo grew economically to enormous proportions, although operating in competing type of business, they were able to maintain a truce/agreement.

The first drop of water fell from the glass with the execution in 1988 of a compadre close to El Chapo, Armando Lopez Esparza El Rayo de Sinaloa. He was executed at the hands of Ramon Arellano Felix who, without giving a thought, killed him with a shot to the head. It has been said that El Rayo de Sinaloa caused an altercation after arriving at a party without an invitation, he was detained at the entrance while looking for Benjamin Arellano to speak on behalf of El Chapo Guzman. It was also personal because of jealousy that kept igniting the tension, El Rayo de Sinaloa had fallen in love with one of the Arellano's sisters of the family, Enedina Arellano Felix. To the brothers this was an insult that a member of an adversarial organization was trying to seduce one of their women.

The Arellanos waged a war against the family of El Rayo de Sinaloa, they executed Javier Lopez Esparza who was the brother of El Rayo de Sinaloa and as a consequence a close friend of the family was executed in Zapopan his name was Jorge Barba Franco.

After an outstanding debt between the Mayo Zambada and the Arellano Felix, the group decided to execute El Mayo Zambada for the debt of millions of dollars of profits from trafficking of drugs through the city of Tijuana. Benjamin and Ramón decided to execute him without getting the green light. He sent a group of sicarios to carry out the execution but one of the sicarios backed out at the precise moment that generated an argument among them and the sicario that had backed out was killed by his colleagues. When the rest of the sicarios return to their home base, Ramon Arellano executed the other sicario for failing to carry out his order. Mayo Zambada fled to Sinaloa and was named as enemy number one of the organization.

After a failed attempt to execute El Chapo in 1991, the organization recruited street gang members of the Logan Heights of San Diego, California, providing them military training. AFO was one of the first cartels to recruit US street gangs to perform the duties of sicarios in Mexican soil.

Chapo Guzman's response was immediate. In November of 1992, in the city of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, a group of sicarios arrived at the night club "Christine" and sprayed the place with gunfire. The AFO's brothers Francisco Javier and Ramon Arellano Felix were inside. The brothers were not hurt but the hail of bullets killed six people and also wounded many others. It has been said that Mayo Zambada and Guero Palma also participated in the planning of the attack, the latter seeking revenge for the death of his wife and children at the hands of a Venezuelan sicario hired by the Felix Arellanos.

The rivalry really started from the beginning when El Chapo Guzman and El Guero Palma were initially recruited to lead the Sinaloa cartel, since the Arellano Felix brothers felt threatened by them. The only barrier that was keeping them from killing each other was Felix Gallardo, a direct family member of the Arellano Felix. After the arrest of Felix Gallardo, there was nothing to keep the Sinaloan association from waging war against the Arellano Felix.

After this, the Arellano Felix brothers counterattacked in May 1993. Sicarios waited for the arrival of El Chapo Guzman at the Guadalajara International Airport, where a confrontation took place at the airport parking lot. The loud sounds of automatic gunfire could be heard all around the airport. In the confrontation Mexican Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo was killed for confusing him with El Chapo Guzman. El Chapo Guzman fled the place taking a commercial flight bound for Tijuana, Baja California. This intense confrontation resulted in collateral damage of innocent people.

In June of 1993, El Chapo Guzman was detained in Guatemala after having fled the country for being the alleged suspect of the cardinal's death. He had escaped all the checkpoints and operations while on the run until he was found in San Marcos, Guatemala. When he was arrested a colt 38 caliber handgun with the initials "A.C.F" was found on his possession. The initials were that of Amado Carrillo Fuentes, it is said that it was a gift given to El Chapo.

In December 1993, Amado Carrillo Fuentes survived an attack in a restaurant in Mexico City. The attack was ordered by the Arellano Felix brothers. The attack was carried out by a CAF sicarios Fabian Martinez González El Tiburon or 9-9, Federico Sanchez el G1 and Merardo Leon Hinojosa El Z3. They killed the bodyguards of Amado, while Alcides Ramon Magaña El Metro repelled the aggression with his team. Amado and his family lived except for Amado's wife was wounded in the attack. This only escalated violence against the Arellano Felix Organization from rival organizations.

In June 1994, at the luxurious Camino Real hotel in Guadalajara, Jalisco, the birthday of the Sinaloan businessman Luis Enrique Fernandez Uriarte El Kiki was being celebrated. El Mayo Zambada had been invited to the party. At two in the morning a car parked in front of the hotel. They though Mayo was present at the party but he decided not attend. A car bomb in the style of Pablo Escobar exploded outside the hotel claiming the lives of 5 people, including the alleged perpetrators who were inside the car. The scattered body parts made the scene a true horror story.

In 1995 Ramon Arellano began executing members of his own cartel because they were plotting to take over the organization, as was the case of the Meza Castano brothers who were abducted and killed in Mexico City. Abdelia, sister of Endir and Henain Meza Castaño was riddled with bullets along with a small baby in Tijuana.

Gustavo Miranda Santacruz was shot at and then abducted after he survived the attack. This was the way the Arellano Felix sent a message of terror to those who tried to take control of the organization.

After the confrontations and the wave of violence that resulted in collateral damage and death of relatives, both organizations agreed that families should not be touched, and that children were to be left alone, it would be only between men. After this agreement, there was relative calm within the life of drug trafficking. In 1994, Amado Carrillo was identified as a drug trafficker by Mexico and the United States. In 1995, El Guero Palma had been detained after his plane got in an accident. In 1997, the Arellano brothers entered the DEA list as the most wanted for their huge drug trafficking operation.

In November 1997, the founder of newspaper Semanario Zeta was shot at by a group of sicarios, who fired intense bursts of gunfire at him. Due to the number of rounds fired, the sicarios left Jesus Blancornelas for dead, but he only received 4 gunshots. Blancornelas survived the attack and was protected by the government of Ernesto Zedillo who sent him a guard of 11 elements of the army that accompanied him and protected him. The weekly newspaper reported on the growing organization and operations of the Tijuana cartel on the border city, this sparked the interest of the public and authorities, so the order was given for his execution.

After the escape of Chapo Guzman in 2001 from Puente Grande in Jalisco, the war took another course. The strength of the Sinaloa cartel and the great relationship with the authorities saw the end of one of the bloodiest chapters in this war after the death of Ramón and the arrest of Benjamin, thus ending the wave of violence.

Blows to the Cartel:

• Ramon Arellano Felix, the bloodiest leader of the organization, was killed in February 2002 in Mazatlan, Sinaloa. He travelled to Mazatlan to execute Mayo Zambada, but he was stopped by police. Ramón pulled out his weapon against the police officers, but they shot back, hitting him in the head. This ended the life of the drug trafficker who was wanted by Mexican and US authorities.

• Benjamin Arellano Felix, the leader of the organization, was arrested in Puebla in March 2002. After a police operation at a residence in Angelopolis in the city, Benjamin was found with his family. Benjamin is said to have been seeking a little bit of peace for himself and his daughter who had a degenerative disease. Thus the leadership of the organization fell to the other brothers. Benjamin was extradited to the United States.

• Francisco Rafael Arellano Felix, the eldest of the brothers, was arrested in 1993 by the federal judicial police in Tijuana and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. In 2004, after serving the sentence, he was detained by an extradition order to the United States. In 2006. The order was carried out and he was extradited to the United States. In 2008, he was released after a sentence reduction for good conduct. He was released and was not wanted by Mexican authorities. Rafael refrained from participating in illegal activities. In October 2013 he was executed by old gangs by order of the Mayo Zambada. The sicario was the famous Chino Antrax who came in disguised as a clown and executed Rafael Arellano Felix at a party
  
  Rafael had been seen along with Julio Cesar Chavez in his fight against Greg Haugen at the Aztec Stadium in 1993, the images came out nationally, but nobody realized that it was Francisco Rafael who was in company of Chavez in his fight. Rafael wearing a wig was able to conceal his identity. Their great relationship from both led to many meetings and vacations, all paid by Francisco Rafael.

• Francisco Javier Arellano Felix, the youngest of the dynasty, was detained near La Paz while he was in a boat on the ocean. El Tigrillo was caught by surprise by an operation by the DEA when he was fishing in the company of one more group. El Tigrillo was of lower rank in the organization, his life of pleasure for the parties he held did not take him serious as the boss of the organization.

• Eduardo Arellano Felix, leader of the organization after the arrest and death of his brothers, was detained in Tijuana after a confrontation with federal forces. At the time of his arrest, his daughter and a group of sicarios who accompanied him, started a confrontation, but authorities managed to arrest El Doctor as he was nicknamed.

After the blows received, the leadership fell on the sister Enedina Arellano Felix and together with her son Luis Fernando Sanchez Arellano El Ingeniero took over the operations of the cartel. Luis Fernando is currently detained and confined in a maximum-security prison waiting to be extradited, was the leader of the new generation of lieutenants of the Tijuana cartel.

Members of the CAF Old School

• Jesus Labra Aviles, discovered the Arellanos. He was detained and extradited to the united states.

• Arturo Everardo Paez El Kitty, part of the group of narcojuniors led by Ramon, arrested and currently an FBI informant.

• Amado Cruz Anguiano. collaborator of the organization and detained in Tijuana.

• Ismael Higuera Guerrero El Mayel, a collaborator of the organization, he was arrested in 2000.

• Fabian Martinez Gonzalez El Tiburon, chief sicario of the Arellano Felix brothers. Committed suicide before being arrested in a police operation.

• Merardo Leon Hinojosa El Z3, sicario and bodyguards of the organization.

• Fabian Reyes Partida El Z1. sicario and bodyguards of the organization.

• Miguel Hodoyan Palacios El 8-8, sicario for the organization.

• Manuel Aguirre Galindo El Caballo, collaborator of the organization, arrested.

• Gilberto Higuera Guerrero El Gilillo, brother of El Mayel.

• Efrain Perez Pasuengo El Efrea, Benjamin's bodyguard. detained in Tijuana.

• Jorge Aureliano Felix El Macumba or 8-4, collaborator of the organization. detained in Tijuana.

• Rigoberto Yañez Guerrero El Primo, collaborator of organization. Arrested.

• Armando Martinez Duarte El Loco, Chief of security escorts of the Gilillo.

• David Barron Corona El CH, sicario, died in the attack of the founder of the weekly Zeta Jesus Blancornerlas, came out of the Logan gang neighborhood.

• Federico Sanchez El G1, sicario of the organization,

• Lino Quintana Z5, sicario and died for hindering and murdering a sicario from the same organization and for not killing Mayo Zambada.

• Fausto Soto Miller, El F-7, sicario and cook for the organization.

• Emilio Valdes Mainero el 6-6, collaborator of the organization.

• Arturo Villareal Heredia El Nalgon or 6-1, a collaborator of the organization, was arrested along with El tigrillo.

• Gustavo Rivera El P-1, collaborator of the organization, arrested.

• Adrian Gutierrez Elenes El Cachorro, sicario of the organization.

• Marco Antonio Garcia Simental El Cris or 8-9, sicario and bodyguards of the organization. arrested.

• Luis Ramirez Vazquez El Guero Camarón, arrested together with Eduardo Arellano Felix.

The war of El Ingeniero and El Teo for the plaza of Tijuana.

After the arrests and deaths within the cartel, a restructure was seen within the organization. The surname of the Arellano family was still intact in the cartel. The nephew Luis Fernando Sanchez Arellano took the place of his uncles. He associated himself with Teodoro Garcia Simental El Teo or El Tres Letras, who was the brother of El Cris or 8-9.

This was a new uplift for the Tijuana cartel and the growing new generation of the cartel. In 2004 the great operations were seen again on the border of Tijuana, new shipments arrived and passed through new routes, and the construction of tunnels gave rise to a new power of the organization.

After a couple of years the alliance was fractured by ambitions for power, this fracture divided the state and the main plazas. El Ingeniero blamed El Teo for the deaths and kidnappings in the city that were not authorized, thus heating the plaza in Tijuana.

The Gunfight in the Cañaveral

Fernando Sanchez Arellano called for accountability to El Teo, but he did not attend the meeting because it was clear to him that he was going to be killed. Instead, he sent his group of sicarios known as the Rs, a group led by Raydel Lopez Uriarte El Muletas, a compadre of El Teo. A confrontation began against the people of the Arellano Felix led by Fausto Sanchez El 7-7 and supported by Armando Villareal Heredia El Gordo relative of Nalgon Villareal. Dozens of cars, gunmen and weapons participated in the confrontation.

This resulted in 16 dead and several wounded, as well as the seizure of weapons and vehicles. On the part of the Tijuana cartel the biggest blow to them was the death of their head of sicarios El 7-7 in the confrontation, El Gordo villareal fled in an armored Humvee. El Teo who had the highest number of sicarios killed, but were members of lower rank.

Given this El Teo traveled to Sinaloa to make an alliance with El Chapo Guzman and El Mayo Zambada. They agreed to remove the family of the Arellano Felix from Tijuana. This betrayal marked the course of the city, a wave of violence between both rival groups fell on the city.

On behalf of Fernando Sanchez Arellano were:

• Armando Villareal Heredia, the right hand of El Ingeniero was arrested in Hermosillo, Sonora in 2011.

• Jorge Briceño El Cholo or 5-5, brother-in-law of El Tigrillo and operator in Tijuana for El Ingeniero. It is not known exactly his whereabouts, it is said that he was killed by treason, others that he died of an illness, but he disappeared without a trace.

• Manuel Ivanovich Zambrano Flores El Jimmy or 100, was arrested in Los Cabos. It is said that he had quarrels with El Muletas.

• Isaac Manuel Castro Godoy El Dany or El Gody, the main collaborator of the Sanchez Arellano. He was detained in the southern peninsula of Baja California. He also came out of the Logan neighborhood in San Diego.

• Melvin Gutierrez Quiroz El Tocayo, El Melvin or El Casper. Executor and came out of the Logan neighborhood, he was arrested in Tijuana.

• Raymundo Corona Bartolome, operator of El Ingeniero, apparently, he is free.

• Fernando Avila Valenzuela El Tio, operator of El Ingeniero, seems to be free.

On the part of Teodoro Garcia Simental were:

• Raydel Lopez uriarte El Muletas, compadre and head of sicarios for the organization of El Teo. El Muletas was arrested in 2010.

• Juan Manuel Garcia Simental El Chiquilin, brother El Teo and head of security for filiberto in the city of Tijuana. He was arrested in 2010.

• Filiberto Parra Ramos la Perra, head of sicarios was arrested in 2009 in Tijuana.

• Angel Jacome Gamboa El Kaibil, Plaza boss for El Teo, was arrested in 2010.

During this war between El Teo and El Ingeniero, 1,236 deaths were recorded in Tijuana during the years that it lasted. One of the most striking arrests was that of El Pozolero of El Teo, Santiago Meza Lopez, a bricklayer that dissolved bodies in acid. At least 300 bodies were dissolved while working for El Teo. He was arrested in 2009 at a property where human remains were found.

Given the situation of violence experienced by the population of Tijuana, the federal government of Felipe Calderon launched a war against the drug cartels. The first to fall from this war was Teodoro Garcia Simental El Teo or Tres Letras, he was arrested in Tijuana in early 2010 but this did not diminish the war. It was until the organization of El Teo was disbanded with arrests and deaths.

The factions of El Teo and El Muletas continued to operate, the plazas fighting against the Tijuana cartel and factions of cartels that ventured into the city.

Meanwhile Luis Fernando Sanchez Arellano was arrested years after waging the bloody war for the plaza of Tijuana, El Ingeniero was arrested in 2014 in a restaurant while watching the soccer world cup. He was surprised by a military unit. He was sent to the Altiplano prison.

Today

The Tijuana cartel has been weakened and almost eliminated from the drug trafficking map. Enedina Arellano Felix is said to be managing a small group associated with the cartel, a new generation of Tijuana cartel supported and financed by El Mencho. The leaders of the group, El Flakito and Cabo 20, are fighting against factions of El Chapo and El Mayo, la Familia Michoacana and remnants of El Damaso, previously associated with El Chapo.

It is natural for the cartel, after being weakened by the arrests of high-ranking leaders, to seek alliances, to stop the progress of the Sinaloa cartel. The Arellano Felix had made alliances with the Gulf cartel of Osiel Cardenas and its armed group Los zetas, with the Juarez cartel and now with El Mencho of Cartel Nueva Generacion de Jalisco (CJNG).

Tijuana continues to be an important plaza because of its strategic geographical location and is desired by many Mexican cartels. Tijuana has never been a quiet plaza, it is always been a hot area. In the last year of the statistics in 2019 it is shown that it closed with 2,185 deaths attributed to drug trafficking in the city. The number seems to increase after the beginning of 2020 as the growing wave of murders continues to hit the city hard.

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