Sonora on High Alert After Arrest of Sinaloa Cartel-related Leader 'El Cuza'

ALABAMA - After weeks of cartel turf wars that have caused over 150 deaths in less than a month in northern Mexico, the Secretariat of Security and Civilian Protection (SSPC) announced on Oct. 6 the arrest of a man with strong ties to the Sinaloa Cartel.

As the country awaits for new President Claudia Sheinbaum to unveil her security plan on Oct. 8, members of the Mexican armed forces have dealt criminal organizations a blow after detaining Feliciano R, known as "El Cuza," a regional leader with links to the Sinaloa Cartel known for his role of smuggling drugs into the United States as well as trafficking migrants.

News of the arrest first surfaced on social media, indicating that a man named Javier Feliciano had been captured. But an investigation from Infobae Mexico confirmed that the man detained was actually "El Cuza," the alleged leader of a group known as "Los Salazar," which controls parts of Chihuahua, Sonora and Sinaloa.

Although the group has strong links to the Sinaloa Cartel, "Los Salazar" is a clique independent from the cartel and counts with its own armed wing.

According to information from InSight Crime, the group was founded during the 1990's by Adán and José Crispín Salazar Zamorano. They began trafficking marijuana in Navojoa but quickly spread all throughout the state of Sonora.

Data from the Mexican government indicates that violence instilled by "Los Salazar" in their drug trafficking business displaced more than 1,500 people from the Sonoyta and Chínipas counties in 2015.

The Sinaloa Cartel clique has been known for targeting journalists reporting on its illicit businesses. The group has been linked to the murders of Miroslava Breach Velducea in 2017 as well as the activist Nepomuceno Moreno Núñez.

In 2022, journalist Héctor de Mauleón published a column that made reference to "El Cuza's" family ties to Adelmo Nieblas, a.k.a "El G3" who has been flagged as one of the individuals responsible for the spread of fentanyl and methamphetamine in Caborca and Sonoyta.

The arrest of "El Cuza" comes as violence in the northern part of the country has spiraled out of control. The situation has gotten to such levels that, on Oct. 2, members of local police in Culiacán were taken off the streets after the army confiscated their weapons for inspection.

The Mexican army has a history of seizing local police weapons when they suspect officers are working with drug gangs or carrying unregistered firearms to avoid accountability. A similar weapon seizure occurred in Cuernavaca in 2018 to ensure "trustworthy security forces.