Drug cartels in Culiacán, Sinaloa, have been infiltrating drug rehabilitation centers across the city in order to recruit new members for their organizations. Most of them are promised "job opportunities" if they join their ranks.
However, those visits have also turned deadly as a result of the ongoing turf wars between "Los Chapitos," the Sinaloa cartel clique under the control of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán's sons, and the group known as "La Mayiza," those still loyal to Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and his son Ismael Zambada Sicairos.
The first violent attack targeting rehab centers took place on Dec. 23, with alleged members of La Mayiza setting two properties on fire. And now, a new attack involving both criminal groups left nine people dead and five others injured.
Mexico's top security official Omar García Harfuch attributed the attack that took place at the Shaddai Rehab Center in Culiacán to the Chapitos.
"Everything indicates that it was a cell from those known as 'Los Chapitos' attacking a group from a cell inside this rehabilitation center, which belongs to their rival group 'Los Mayos,'" Harfuch said.
The Mexican official added that federal agencies count with information related to the vehicles used by the attackers, and that they suggested local and federal authorities are working together to make the arrests.
What happened at the Shaddai Rehab Center?
According to Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha Moya, the attack took place during the early hours of April 7 when a group of armed men broke into the property and started to shoot at residents of the rehab center.
Rocha Moya said that, before they opened fire, they asked people if they were part of another criminal group. Eight people died at the scene and five others were injured, while another person died at a nearby hospital due to severe injuries sustained in the attack.
Guillermo Rodríguez Gaxiola, owner of the Shaddai Rehab Center, was kidnapped by alleged members of Los Chapitos inside his home and was later killed at a different location to take the death toll to 10 victims.
According to testimonies collected by local reporters and by El País, the armed men were looking for a "bald guy," a description that fits Gaxiola's physical features.
"They did not kill all of us because their rifles got stuck," one of the survivors told reporters. The man added that around 20 people were living at the rehabilitation center when the attack took place.
Hours later, authorities were notified of another attack in a different property that also belonged to Gaxiola, although no shots were fired nor any aggressions against residents were reported there.
More than 400 homicides reported in 2025 alone
Since Los Chapitos and La Mayiza started its violent conflict for control over territories in Sinaloa, more than 1,000 homicides have been reported across the state for an average of 5.2 per day.
As of April 8, Noroeste reports that there have been at least 435 homicides cases since the start of 2025, with 32 homicides reported so far this month.
April 7 was the bloodiest day of the month, with 14 homicides reported across the state, 10 of them related to the Shaddai rehab center attacks.
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