WATCH: Men Armed With High-Caliber Guns Attempt Robbery In front of Culiacan City Hall During Cartel Turf Wars

Drug cartels in the Mexican state of Sinaloa have near complete control in all aspects of society, conducting their illicit activities without fear in broad daylight.

In its latest example, a group of hitmen upped the ante right in front of Sinaloa's city hall where they tried to rob a vehicle by using high-caliber firearms, according to a video that circulated on social media.

In the video shared by Juan Manuel Partida Velez, a local journalist in Sinaloa, two armed men can be seen trying to intercept a vehicle that was headed down the Álvaro Obregón Ave., which passes right in front of Culiacán's city hall.

Both men are seen to be in possession of high-caliber firearms and tried to encircle the vehicle before the driver could react. Luckily for the driver, he was able to escape the attack to the frustration of the hitmen.

Apart from the hundreds of homicides reported in the state of Sinaloa ever since "Los Chapitos" and "La Mayiza" began an internal fight for control over the Sinaloa cartel, vehicle theft has been one of the most recurrent crimes across the entity.

In fact, vehicle theft is by far the most common crime in Sinaloa since turf wars began, more than tripling homicide cases (2,401 to 709).

Before the violent conflict detonated back in September, Mexican news outlet Noroeste says that only 7.5 vehicles thefts were reported per day in Sinaloa between Jan-Aug. of last year. That has number jumped to historical levels since, with an average of 28.3 per day

Since the start of 2025, authorities in Sinaloa have received 232 complaints of vehicle theft, according to data from government officials. So far in January 2025, the state of Sinaloa is averaging 19.3 thefts per day. Only during October (21.3) and November (19.6) of last year did the entity have a higher average.

This past weekend was another busy one for law enforcement in the entity, as seven homicides and five kidnappings were reported on top of 18 complaints of vehicle theft. According to official reports, two people were found dead in Mazatlán on Jan. 11 while four more homicides were reported the following day.