The Order of War for Control of Caborca

By Buggs for Borderland Beat

What happened in Caborca at the stroke of midnight was only evidence of a great war for control of the northern part of the state of Sonora. It has been known that the order was to remove the enemies of the sons of El Chapo Guzman, who currently maintain a war from the fracture with Mayo Zambada.

The people in charge of cleaning "La Perla del Desierto" are the Salazar family with its armed group of La Gente Nueva. One of the allies of the Salazar family is La Gente Nueva del Cazador, a group of Los Chapitos. The objective was to eliminate the group of the Paez family who are directly affiliated to the Caro Quintero group.

The Paez family maintains control in Caborca, the coast of Caborca and Pitiquito. The operation is meant to take control in the desert towns from Caborca to Saric, that would explain the incursion of a group of 50 trucks that focused their attack in Puerto Lobos and Puerto Libertad.

 In Puerto Libertad, they burned down a ranch owned by Rodrigo Paez, one of the leaders of the Caro Quintero clan. There were also attacks and convoys moving around the coastal area.

After the arrival of state and federal authorities on the coast of Caborca, the group of sicarios took advantage of the fact that most of the authorities were in the coastal zone. That was how the convoy managed to organize around 100 trucks and now focus its attack on the city of Caborca.

This convoy was seen traveling in the streets of the city with the trucks marked with the "X." The "X" mark has always been attributed as belonging to commandos of the Sinaloa cartel, used to identified them in the heat of battle. There were some small confrontations between groups, the attack hit a gas station located on 27th Street, was shot up and attacked with grenades, as well as the burning of some houses that supposedly belonged to Jesus Dario Murrieta Navarro "La Cara de Cochi," who is head of sicarios for the Caro Quintero group.

 After the advance of the sicarios, cars and a tractor trailer were set on fire as the sound of heavy caliber weapons were heard. One of the cars belonged to the public security commander Eduardo Leal Molina, who oversees protection of the Paez family group.

When looking at the aftermath of the attack, it is clear that this was a strategic attack with the pre-plan objective of eliminating anyone that was related to the Caro Quintero clan from the city.

On the Caborca Sonoyta highway, they found 10 bodies that had been executed and tortured. The dead had been found tied by their hands and feet. it is said they were abducted during the incursion of the group that attacked the city of Caborca.

Hours later a refrigerated trailer was found with 16 frozen bodies. The trailer was found in front of an oxxo store and was being heavily guarded by the Mexican National Guard.

This confrontation is reminiscence of the violence lived in the beginning of 2019 and the middle of 2020. The Caro Quintero group is led by Rodrigo Paez, Oscar de la Rocha "Chapo de la Rocha," Dario Murrieta "Cara de Cochi" and a person nicknamed "El 22."

But the reach of the Salazars does not reach this point, it is said that the army of Los Chapito is concentrated in the city of Benjamin Hill, where they are organizing the buildup of sicarios coming in from the south of the state and part of the regions of Agua Prieta and Cananea. They are preparing to attack and intend to eliminate the people of Mayo Zambada that has a presence in Cucurpe, Santa Ana, Magadalena, Imuris and Nogales.

The concentration of the large number of sicarios are equipped with heavy-caliber weapons and some armored vehicles, some with steel plated armor, are waiting to enter combat for control of the plazas in the northern of the state.

Previously, there was a confrontation in Magdalena which caught the attention of the national media due to the great reach and use of violence that took place for two consecutive days. On one side, Los Chapitos represented by La Gente Nueva del Cazador, boss of the plaza of Altar and on the other by Mayo Zambada, led by Felipe de Jesus Sosa Canizales "Gigio" or "El del Sombrero" supported by Leonardo López "El 20," both bosses in the city of Nogales.

 Apparently, there is a probable affiliation between El Mayo Zambada and the Caro Quintero group, who are planning against the sons of El Chapo Guzman. There has already been numerous confrontations between both factions.

Los Chapitos want to take full control of the Sonora border with the United States. This is the main purpose of the fight, to win the grand prize of such valuable strategic port of entry to the US. They want full control of the corridor from Agua Prieta to San Luis Rio Colorado.

It is just one more battle of this endless war, the state of Sonora re-lives another chapter of violence.

As it always happens with these types of events, innocent victims are killed through stray bullets and confusion. This is the biggest condemnation of the people that they have towards the authorities and the government, for their lack of response to the attacks. Given the lack of transparency from authorities and the orders given by drug traffickers fragmented in numerous cells, the exact number of confrontations is hard to determine.