MEXICO CITY (AP) 鈥 Cellphone chats have become death sentences in the continuing, bloody factional war inside Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel.
Cartel gunmen stop youths on the street or in their cars and demand their phones. If they find a contact who鈥檚 a member of a rival faction, a chat with a wrong word or a photo with the wrong person, the phone owner is dead.
Then, they鈥檒l go after everyone on that person's contact list, forming a potential chain of kidnapping, torture and death. That has left residents of Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state, afraid to even leave home at night, much less visit towns a few miles away where many have weekend retreats.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 go five minutes out of the city, ... not even in daylight,鈥 said Ismael Boj贸rquez, a veteran journalist in Culiacan. 鈥淲hy? Because the narcos have set up roadblocks and they stop you and search through your cellphone.鈥
And it鈥檚 not just your own chats: If a person is traveling in a car with others, one bad contact or chat can get the whole group kidnapped.
That鈥檚 what happened to the son of a local news photographer. The 20-year-old was stopped with two other youths and something was found on one of their phones; all three disappeared. Calls were made and the photographer鈥檚 son was finally released, but the other two were never seen again.
Residents of Culiacan had long been accustomed to a day or two of violence once in a while. The presence of the Sinaloa cartel is woven into everyday life there, and people knew to stay indoors when they saw the convoys of double-cab pickups racing through the streets.
But never have they seen that broke out Sept. 9 between factions of the Sinaloa cartel after drug lords Ismael 鈥淓l Mayo鈥 Zambada and Joaqu铆n Guzm谩n L贸pez were apprehended in the United States after flying there in a small plane on July 25.
and forced aboard the plane by Guzm谩n L贸pez, causing a violent battle between Zambada鈥檚 faction and the 鈥淐hapitos鈥 group led by the sons of imprisoned drug lord Joaquin 鈥淓l Chapo鈥 Guzm谩n.
Residents of Culiacan are mourning their old lives, when the wheels of the local economy were greased by cartel wealth but civilians seldom suffered 鈥 unless they cut off the wrong pickup truck in traffic.
But the cartel factions have turned to new tactics, including a huge wave of armed carjackings in and around Culiacan. Cartel gunmen used to steal the SUVs and pickups they favor for use in cartel convoys; but now they focus on stealing smaller sedans.
They use these to go undetected in their silent, deadly kidnappings.
Often, the first a driver knows is when a passing car tosses out a spray of bent nails to puncture his tires. Vehicles pull up front and rear to cut him off. The driver is bundled into another car. All that is left for neighbors to find is a car with burst tires, the doors open, the engine running, in the middle of the street.
The State Council on Public Safety, a civic group, estimates that in the past month there have been an average of six killings and seven disappearances or kidnappings in and around the city every day. The group said about 200 families have fled their homes in outlying communities because of the violence.
Culiacan is no stranger to violence 鈥 shooting broke out across the city in October 2019 when soldiers mounted a failed attempt to arrest another of Chapo Guzm谩n鈥檚 sons, Ovidio. Fourteen people were killed that day.
A few days later, civic activist Estefan铆a L贸pez arranged a peace march and 4,000 residents turned out for it. When she tried to do something similar this year, she could get only about 1,500 people to attend a similar demonstration.
鈥淲e got a lot of messages beforehand from a lot of people who said they wanted to join and march, to support the cause, but who were afraid to come,鈥 L贸pez said.
There鈥檚 reason to be afraid: Last week, gunmen burst into a Culiacan hospital to kill a patient previously wounded by gunshots. In a town north of Culiacan, drivers were astonished to see a military helicopter seeking to corral four gunmen in helmets and tactical vests just yards from a highway; the gunmen were shooting back at the chopper.
President Claudia Sheinbaum鈥檚 for stirring up trouble by allowing the drug lords to turn themselves in.
鈥淪inaloa practically didn't have homicides鈥 before the two drug lord's capture on July 25, Sheinbaum said. 鈥淪tarting with that, a wave of violence was unleashed in Sinaloa,鈥 she said.
Her claim is easily disproved: the cartel factions had been killing each other for years, albeit at lower levels. But it illustrates the government's head-in-the-sand approach: Sheinbaum and her predecessor, former president Andr茅s Manuel L贸pez Obrador, had little problem with the existence and local dominance of drug cartels as long as they didn't make headlines.
Now that the violence has boiled over, the government has sent in hundreds of army troops.
But irregular urban combat in the heart of a city of 1 million inhabitants 鈥 against a cartel that has lots of .50-caliber sniper rifles and machine guns 鈥 is
Squads of soldiers went into a luxury apartment complex in the city鈥檚 center to detain a suspect and they wound up shooting to death a young lawyer who was merely a bystander.
L贸pez, the peace activist, has been asking for soldiers and police to be posted outside schools, so children can return to classes 鈥 most are currently taking classes online because their parents judge it too dangerous to take them to school.
But police can鈥檛 solve the problem: Culiacan鈥檚 entire municipal force has been temporarily disarmed by soldiers to check their guns, something that鈥檚 been done in the past when the army suspects policemen are working for drug cartels.
The local army commander recently acknowledged that it's up to the cartel factions 鈥 not authorities 鈥 when the violence will stop.
鈥淚n Culiacan, there is not even faith anymore that we will be safe, with police or soldiers,鈥 L贸pez said, noting that that has had a clear effect on daily life and the economy. 鈥淎 lot of businesses, restaurants and nightclubs have been closed for the past month.鈥
Laura Guzm谩n, the leader of the local restaurant chamber, said about 180 businesses in Culiacan have closed, permanently or temporarily, since Sept. 9 and almost 2,000 jobs have been lost.
Local businesses tried to organize evening 鈥渢ardeadas鈥 鈥 long afternoons 鈥 for residents who were afraid to go out after dark, but they didn鈥檛 draw enough customers.
鈥淵oung people are not interested in going out right now,鈥 Guzm谩n said.
For those looking to get away from the violence temporarily, the seaside resort of Mazatlan used to be only 2 1/2 hours away by car. But that鈥檚 not an option since last month when cartel gunmen hijacked passenger buses, forced the tourists off and burned the vehicles to block the road to Mazatlan.
That leaves just one option, and one only open to some.
鈥淭hose who have the economic resources get out of the city by airplane to take a break,鈥 Guzm谩n said.
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