Sinaloa Authorities Investigate Attack on Police Station As Officers Continue To Be Killed During Cartel Turf Wars

Authorities in the Mexican state of Sinaloa are investigating a shootout that targeted a police base in the city of Navolato, less than 20 miles south of Culiacán.

According to initial reports, the attack took place on Dec. 4 at around 2 p.m. when several residents of Villa Juarez heard gunshots over several minutes. The attack targeted a base of Sinaloa's Preventive State Police, leaving the front of the building covered in bullet holes. As authorities continue investigating who was responsible for the incident, they reported that no lives were lost in the attack.

Moments after the shootout ended, law enforcement mobilized around the area in search of the perpetrators. Military personnel and members of the National Guard began patrolling Navolato with helicopters as well circling the city on the ground in order to cut any possible escape routes.

Although no more information has been confirmed, Verona Hernandez Valenzuela, a spokesperson for Sinaloa's Secretariat of Public Safety, said the attack wasn't targeted towards local police, but instead involved a kidnapping near the area, which led to collateral damages to the building.

"A group of armed civilians arrived to a nearby house located in the area, where they tried to kidnap an individual," Valenzuela said. "That is when military personnel engaged and the shootout began. So we are discarding the possibility of a direct attack towards the police base," she added.

Valenzuela said that once military personnel arrived to the scene, the alleged suspects couldn't secure the kidnapping and fled the scene.

Attacks towards law enforcement in Sinaloa

Despite authorities saying that the shootout was not targeted against the Navolato police base, the state of Sinaloa is no stranger to violence against police officers or military personnel.

According to a database from the nonprofit Causa en Común, 16 police officers were killed in Sinaloa in 2024, making it the sixth entity with the most such fatalities across Mexico, only surpassed by Guanajuato (61), State of Mexico (24). Guerrero (22) and Chiapas (20).

The most recent attack against law enforcement took place during the first day of 2025, when a police officer was killed in the city of Aguaruto, just outside of Culiacán.

Ongoing turf wars between "La Mayiza" and "Los Chapitos" have led to a deterioration of the security situation. Ever since the violent conflict began on Sept. 9, 13 police officers in Sinaloa were killed in the state, compared to the only three deaths between January and Sept.