Last September, two Sinaloa cartel factions —"Los Chapitos" and "La Mayiza"— declared war to each other for control of the criminal organization. The violent conflict quickly spread out all across Sinaloa with the city of Culiacán serving as the epicenter.
Since early September, hundreds of people have either lost their lives or disappeared. As of Feb. 8, Sinaloa has seen 828 homicide cases since turf wars began five months ago, averaging 5.4 per day.
But according to local media, only a tiny percentage of those responsible for homicides and other violent crimes have been arrested by Mexican authorities. As El Sol de Sinaloa reports, the state's attorney general office says that out of the 335 arrests made between Sept. 9 and Dec. 17 of 2024, only 24 individuals —or 3.65%— were detained for alleged homicide.
During that span, Mexican media outlets say that authorities reported 555 homicides, 696 kidnappings and 1,482 car thefts during that span, but only one suspect arrested was linked to forced kidnapping cases and 14 of them had links to car thefts.
In response to the wave of violence that keep tormenting Sinaloa, the state's attorney general approved an increase to the state's budget, going from $52 million to $55 million.
Despite approving an increase in the budget, federal deputy Roxana Rubio Valdez critiqued the response shown by authorities during the five months of ongoing turf wars, highlighting that there is no follow-up once investigations are put in place.
"They not only only inform us about complaints, but they should also make public how they are responding to incidents and how they are looking for people that commit these crimes. So far it has not been done," Valdez said.
In terms of those that have gone missing, Reynalda Pulido, leader of the advocacy group Madres en Lucha por tu Regreso a Casa who specializes in searching for missing individials, said authorities conclude their investigations once a body is found, instead of finding those responsible for the crimes.
"Investigations always end when a body is found," Pulido said.
Between September and December of 2024, 695 complaints were filed reporting a kidnapping, but according to data from Sinaloa officials, only one suspect was arrested.
Cartel-related crime stays rampant in Sinaloa
Despite seeing a decrease in terms of total homicide victims, January was the fifth month in a row that homicide cases surpassed 100. The first month of 2025 saw a total of 142 homicide victims, less than the 163 that took place in December 2024.
According to Noroeste, as of Feb. 9, 43 homicides have been reported in Sinaloa this month, an average of 4.7 per day.
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