Powerful Mexican Cartel Puts Decades-Long Feud Aside To Supports 'Los Chapitos' In Sinaloa Turf War

Almost four months into the ongoing violent conflict between two warring factions of the Sinaloa Cartel, "Los Chapitos" and "La Mayiza," which has resulted in at least 400 homicides in the state of Sinaloa, neither clique seems to be gaining the upper hand despite almost-daily attacks.

The faction loyal to Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada received a boost in their attempts to gain control of the Sinaloa Cartel when two Tijuana plaza bosses pledged their allegiance to the "sombrereros" in late November. But according to new reports, "Los Chapitos" will now count with the support of a powerful ally that has a strong presence in Mexico's Pacific Coast.

Although the Beltrán Leyva Cartel has been an enemy of the Sinaloa Cartel for years, journalists in Mexico signal that there has been a sudden change of hearts and the group led by Jesús Alfredo Beltrán Guzmán, alias "El Tito" and/or "El Mochomito" is now siding with those loyal to Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán's sons during their internal conflict.

Animosity between the Beltrán Leyva and Sinaloa cartels

The bad blood between both drug cartels started in the late 2000's, when Alfredo Beltrán Leyva, alias "El Mochomo," was captured by Mexico's Army in Culiacán during a family gathering.

"El Mochomo" had formed the Beltrán Leyva Cartel along with his brothers Héctor, Carlos and Arturo and quickly became one of the world's biggest traffickers of narcotics , dominating operations in western Mexico.

The Beltrán Leyva group worked alongside the Sinaloa Cartel throughout the 1990's but things turned sour when "El Mochomo" was arrested, as the cartel's hierarchy claimed "El Chapo" was responsible for the arrest, sparking a war between both groups.

After "El Mochomo" was captured, his son, Jesús Alfredo Beltrán Guzmán, a.k.a "El Tito" took over as the cartel's leader and, according to Mexican journalist Anabel Hernández, planned the kidnapping of Iván and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, his cousins and sons of "El Chapo."

"El Tito" was arrested in December of 2016 and spent five years behind bars. But due to irregularities found during his trial and arrest, Beltrán Guzmán was exonerated of the cocaine and methamphetamine charges he was accused of and was released on Sept. 2021.

Reappearance of "El Tito"

After spending more than three years away from the public eye, reports that surfaced on Nov. 30 alleged that "El Mochomito" had been allegedly recaptured by federal authorities.

But despite reports, Sinaloa's top security official Gerardo Mérida Sanchez denied any claims that linked to the son of "El Mochomo" saying that none of the five civilians detained during a Nov. 29 operation was identified as the cartel leader.

"We do not have any information regarding Jesús Alfredo's arrest," Mérida Sánchez said. "We compiled the information necessary around the arrests but there is no knowledge that he was detained."

Sinaloa's minister of public safety revealed that, besides the five arrests, authorities that conducted the raids in the Mojolo community seized six large firearms, two small firearms, 21 cartridges, two grenades and a small amount of cash.

"We, as your security officials, reiterate our commitment to keep on tackling these sort of issues," Mérida Sánchez said.