Politicians in the Mexican state of Sinaloa are trying to downplay the violent weekend kidnapping of more than 60 victims by cartel armies. The mass kidnapping points to an apparent rift within the Sinaloa Cartel.
The violence began late last week in Sinaloa when a faction led by Aureliano “Guano ” Guzman started to fighting with a faction loyal to Los Chapitos. The hostilities come days after the passing of Consuelo Guzman, the matriarch of the family and mother to jailed kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the father of Los Chapitos, Mexico’s Proceso reported.
In the aftermath of the fighting, gunmen dumped the bodies of three gunmen from Los Chapitos in the town of Badiraguato, which El Guano controls. By Thursday afternoon, groups of gunmen began kidnapping entire families in various parts of the state.
Initially, the Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha Moya tried to deny the issue, claiming that information about mass kidnappings was only unconfirmed rumors, but authorities were going to be investigating.
Respecto a los hechos difundidos en medios de comunicación, presuntamente ocurridos esta mañana en diversas comunidades de Culiacán, donde se refiere que integrantes de varias familias fueron privados de la libertad, se trata de versiones aún no confirmadas.
Desde temprano, las…
— Rubén Rocha Moya (@rochamoya_) March 22, 2024
The politician then drew national criticism when he said during an interview that the public should not be afraid. He said cartel kidnappings were just things that happened.
#AlMomento
“Son cosas que lamentablemente ocurren”, dice el gobernador de #Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha Moya, sobre los secuestros de familias en distintos municipios de #Culiacán.( reacción informativa)
— Elisa Alanís Zurutuza ️ (@elisaalanis) March 22, 2024
Eventually, Rocha posted that there were 66 kidnapping victims and that they had located 42 as part of a search operation.
En seguimiento a los hechos ocurridos en Culiacán, les informo que en total, presuntamente fueron privadas de su libertad 66 personas, según reporte o denuncia presentada. De las cuales a este momento se han localizado 42 (24 adultos, 18 niñas y niños) gracias al operativo de…
— Rubén Rocha Moya (@rochamoya_) March 23, 2024
The comment drew widespread criticism on social media, where various pundits have stated that most of the victims were, in fact, released by cartel gunmen and not rescued as the governor has claimed.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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