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 bulletproof 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 Minister of Security Cristobal Castaneda told reporters.
Castaneda said that Wednesday’s clash near Tepuche, 25km from the capital of Sinaloa, Culiacan, was “part of a struggle between two organized crime gangs in the area.”
Local media reported that the conflict involved members of the Sinaloa cartel — pitching a part of the gang run by the sons of ex-leader Guzman against a faction led by Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, long considered the group’s No. 2.
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 US, where he is serving a life sentence.
Castaneda said that 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 those who were killed were identified as residents of Tepuche.
A reporter who drove through the town on Thursday found several houses left abandoned by families who had fled the area in fear of escalating violence.
“Most of the people are gone, but we stayed because we have animals here we have to look after,” said a local resident, who gave her name as Modesta.
“However, if the government tell us we have to leave, we’ll leave,” she said.
Mike Vigil, former head of international operations for the US Drug Enforcement Agency, said that Guzman’s three sons — known as the “Chapitos,” or little Chapos — were engaged in a fight for control of the cartel.
“It’s a matter of inheritance. Since their father founded the Sinaloa cartel, they believe they should manage it,” Vigil told reporters.
After Guzman’s capture, his sons Ivan, Jesus and Ovidio agreed that Zambada would take over in the interim while they “learned the business,” Vigil said. “They only knew how to spend the money, but now they know how the cartel operates and they want to take control, and that’s why these disputes are happening.”
Vigil said that the Chapitos are worried about the future of the cartel if Zambada, a 72-year-old with diabetes, dies and his lieutenants take over.
“The cartel is not yet divided, but it is on that path. Many respect “Mayo” because he is the oldest capo in Mexico, but there is another group that is with the Chapitos because they know that Zambada could die,” Vigil said.
A split in the group would likely aggravate Mexico’s gang violence, because it would bolster the rival Jalisco Nueva Generacion (New Generation) cartel.
“The Jalisco cartel is the bloodiest cartel, the consequences for Mexico would be unimaginable, and with this government I don’t know how it could be faced down,” Vigil said.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS