Sinaloa Governor Says Hundreds Of Additional Troops Will Be Added to Reinforce Fight Against Cartels

Local and federal officials in Mexico continue their efforts to address the wave of cartel-related violence that has hit northern Mexico since "Los Chapitos" and "La Mayiza" began a war for control over territories and drug smuggling routes in Sinaloa and northern Mexico.

Since the factions of the Sinaloa Cartel began their full-fledged war on Sept. 9, over than 400 homicides have been reported in the state of Sinaloa, 80 of them in November alone. And hundreds more continue to be missing.

With this in mind, Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha Moya told media at his weekly press conference that there are plans to deploy more military personnel to combat drug cartels and gangs across the state.

Rocha Moya said that he expects at least 300 Mexican Army and National Guard units to join the efforts in December. They will be assigned to the city of Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa.

"At this moment we will be reinforcing the city with 300 new elements, When are they going to join? Only they know when, but between today and tomorrow, they will be assigned and regrouped to better protect the city," Rocha Moya declared.

Sinaloa's governor said that 200 troops are part of the Army's Special Force unit, including paratroopers and at least 100 members of the Mexican National Guard. They will be assigned to surveillance duties with the intention of responding to any situation that may arise.

Local and state law enforcement in Sinaloa received a boost in late November, when Mexico's Ministry of Defense (SEDENA) announced that 100 Special Force units had been deployed to the entity with the task of conducting surveillance work as well as installing a new military checkpoint in the state.

Rocha Moya hopes troops will help continue reducing crime reports. In one of the graphics shared during his press conference, he said that his administration currently has the lowest rate of crimes committed compared to previous governors in Sinaloa since 2010.

In the graphic, he highlighted that intentional homicides and vehicle theft have decreased but said that this year the homicide rate has been high due to turf wars between "Los Chapitos" and "La Mayiza."

According to the data shared by the governor, in 2022, 476 intentional homicides were reported throughout the year, a significant drop from the 603 cases that were reported in 2021.

Despite Rocha Moya's claims that his administration has curbed the total amount of cartel-related victims, Sinaloa registered 533 intentional homicides in 2023 and, as of Nov. 26 of this year, 795 intentional homicides have been reported with 469 of them taking place since Sept. 9, according to data from Sinaloa's Ministry of Public Safety.

Mexico's top security official has taken a similar stance about the progress made by Claudia Sheinbaum's administration since being sworn in on Oct. 1.

Omar García Harfuch, secretary of Mexico's Ministry of Public Safety, said that the strategy applied by the government is working, but results will not be noticeable overnight.

"What we are currently working on is on making high-impact captures. The situation will solve itself, but it will not be overnight," García Harfuch said.