A recent report by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) suggests that an alliance may have been formed between the ultraviolent Jalisco New Generation Cartel (Spanish abbr: CJNG) and the Los Chapitos faction of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, a move that could significantly impact Mexico’s security landscape and intensify cartel-related violence throughout the country.
Los Chapitos is embroiled in intense fighting with the rival Sinaloa Cartel faction La Mayiza faction that has been ravaging the Pacific coast state of Sinaloa since September.
The fighting has resulted in over 1,190 homicides and more than 1,120 disappearances in the state, according to official government figures. Most of the violence has been concentrated in the state capital of Culiacan, although no corner of the state has remained untouched.
CJNG top leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias El Mencho, is reported to have approved the deployment of hundreds of gunmen to Sinaloa to support Los Chapitos.
Historically, the CJNG and Los Chapitos have been bitter rivals. However, the apparent unexpected alliance may allow the latter to gain the upper hand against La Mayiza.
Both cartels were designated as foreign terrorist organizations in February by the US State Department.
The factional war stems from an internal power struggle in the cartel between Los Chapitos, which is led by Ivan Archivaldo Guzman, the son of imprisoned cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, and La Mayiza, comprised of members loyal to Ismael Zambada Garcia, a co-founder of the cartel.
Zambada, aka “El Mayo”, was arrested in July 2024 after boarding a private plane which subsequently landed in El Paso, Texas. Joaquin Guzman Lopez, another Guzman brother, was also arrested.
The younger Joaquin lured the 76-year-old Zambada onto the private plane.
Guzman, along with his younger brother Ovidio, are believed to be cooperating with American authorities. Ovidio was extradited to the US in September 2023.
The apparent CJNG-Chapitos alliance could drastically reshape the security situation in several Mexican states where both the CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel are active.
Particularly concerning are the central states of Mexico, Zacatecas and Guanajuato, the eastern state of Veracruz, the northwestern state of Sonora and the Pacific coast states of Baja California and Baja California Sur on the Baja California Peninsula.
Guanajuato for the last several years has been ravaged by intense cartel violence as the CJNG, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel (Spanish abbr: CSRL), and at least two factions of the Gulf Cartel (Spanish abbr: CDG) are engaged in a three-cornered struggle for control of drug trafficking and other illegal activity.
The CJNG, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Grupo Sombra faction of the Gulf Cartel, remnants of the Zetas and the Los Tercios gang all operate in Veracruz.
Both Sinaloa Cartel factions are also present in Sonora, with much of the violence involving Los Deltas, the armed wing of the Los Chapitos faction. The factions, along with the Caborca Cartel, Juarez Cartel and other gangs, all vie for control of narcotics- and migrant-smuggling routes to the United States.
Los Chapitos and La Mayiza both have a presence in Baja California Sur, as well as the New Generation Tijuana Cartel, which is aligned with the CJNG.
The cartels fight over smuggling routes as well as access to the lucrative tourist drug dollar.
Other states should not be considered immune, as shifting cartel objectives and alliances can destabilize a region virtually overnight.
The situation bears monitoring.
