Decomposed Body Found in Culiacán As Homicides as Sinaloa Cartel Turf Wars Rage On

A group of volunteer mothers who specialize on searching for graves and missing persons in northern Mexico discovered remains of a decomposed body in the municipality of Culiacán, Sinaloa.

Known as "Sabuesos Guerreras," the Culiacán-based collective notified authorities of their findings on when they were searching for missing individuals near the town of Costa Rica. At around 11 a.m., the first body was found at a remote location in El Alhuate, a rural community located about 30 miles south of Sinaloa's capital city, Culiacán.

According to El Sol de Sinaloa, the human remains were found facing up and showed advanced signs of decomposition. The man is yet to be identified by authorities.

The outlet reports that the body was found still wearing jeans along with a black t-shirt, and added that the victim's hands were tied with a rope.

Earlier this week, authorities were also notified of three bodies found with signs of torture along the Culiacán-Eldorado highway. The victims were later identified as members of the Culiacán municipal police force and were still wearing their uniforms.

According to local outlets, the officers had responded to a homicide reported along the highway when a group of about 20 armed men kidnapped them. Culiacán Mayor Juan de Dios Gamez Mendívil said the three police officers requested backup and alerted authorities about the attack, but only the police car was found by authorities when they arrived at the scene.

Nearly 300 homicides reported in 2025

In the six months since "Los Chapitos" and "La Mayiza" started to fight over territories and control of the Sinaloa cartel, the homicide rate, as well as forced kidnappings and vehicle theft have remained high.

As of March 5, Noroeste reports that there have been at least 20 homicides reported for an average of four per day.

Since the start of 2025, 286 people have been killed in Sinaloa due to the ongoing violent conflict. The numbers got out of control since September, with at least 120 homicides reported every month.

In the six months since Chapitos and Mayos declared war to each other, authorities in Sinaloa have reported 956 homicide cases, according to data from Noroeste. The bloodiest month was October with a total of 187 cases, an average of 6.1 per day.

More than 1,000 people have gone missing

The outlet reports that forced disappearances or kidnappings surpass the number of homicides reported since September. According to Noroeste, 1,094 kidnappings have been reported but only 645 complaints have been officially filed to the state's Attorney General's Office.

Eght people were reported missing in March by Wednesday.