Possible Conflict Between Los Chapitos & Los Salazars In San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat

A recent wave of homicides of cartel members in the border city of San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, has led some to conclude that the alleged split between Los Chapitos and Los Salazars is real and the current violence is just a taste of the bloodshed that will unfold. However there are other possible culprits behind the murders, as well. 

Understanding the most recent homicides and the regional context surrounding them can give us some clues as to what may be occurring with the cartel power struggle of Sonora. 

November 03, 2021 

Near CECATI, San Luis Río Colorado 

At the very beginning of November 2021, a few disparate photos of an alleged narcomanta in which “La Chapiza” (Los Chapitos) denounced “Los Salazars” emerged online. Few publications covered the hanging of the narcomanta. 5 to Poder and Valor por Tamaulipas were some of the few that covered the banner that was allegedly hung in the border city of San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora. 5 to Poder notably wrote that law enforcement authorities had not officially corroborated a banner had been taken down.

The most common way of understanding the Sinaloa Cartel (Cártel de Sinaloa, CDS) in the last few years has been to evaluate if each subgroup of CDS is more “El Mayo-aligned” (loyal to Ismael Zambada García, “El Mayo”) or more “Los Chapitos-aligned” (loyal to the sons of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, “El Chapo”). This is due to conflicting interest and sometimes outright conflict between the two leadership groups of El Mayo and Los Chapitos within CDS. 

Within this CDS alignment paradigm, Los Salazar have been perceived as being Los Chapitos-aligned for many years now, representing one of the largest and strongest subgroups loyal to Chapo’s sons. If Los Salazars and Los Chapitos were to truly split, the ramifications would be felt in large ways across the state of Sonora.

Warning: Graphic images below this point.

November 24, 2021 

Progreso neighborhood, San Luis Río Colorado 

At approximately 8:00 pm on November 24, 2021, an armed assault occurred on Sonora Avenue on Sonora Avenue, in the border city of San Luis Río Colorado. A man was allegedly shot in the head by armed men who drove away from the scene in a gold colored sedan vehicle. 

Municipal Police, as part of their statement, reported that the victim had a criminal record with multiple charges, some of the charges included unlawful possession of a firearm for the exclusive use of the Armed Forces. 

Social media account El Blog de los Guachos alleged that the identity of the man executed in the morning is “El Chino González", and that he was a Los Salazar member. 

The news outlet Opinion Sonora supports this identification; writing that “El Chino [was] shot to death in Progreso neighborhood”. They further write “He was identified by family members as Luis Gerardo ‘N’, 28 years old, who was known as El Chino.” This confirmation of identity by Opinion Sonora lends some credibility to later identifications made by El Blog de los Guachos. 

Alleged photo of El Chino González taken from his social media.

November 25, 2021

Comercial neighborhood, San Luis Río Colorado

Municipal Police released a statement which confirmed that on the afternoon of November 25, 2021, two dead men were found inside a vehicle near the intersection of Guadalupe Victoria Alley and Sexta Street in San Luis Río Colorado. The men were believed to have been the victims of an armed attack. Their vehicle, a late-model white Nissan Sentra, crashed into a nearby property, presumably during the time of the attack.

El Blog de los Guachos also alleged that one of the two men executed inside the white vehicle in the afternoon was a man in charge of drug distribution for Los Salazars.

November 26, 2021

Jalisco neighborhood, San Luis Río Colorado 

At approximately 11:00 pm on the night of November 26, 2021, the 911 emergency line received a report of a man inside a vehicle being shot to death on Nayarit street in the Jalisco neighborhood of San Luis Río Colorado. By the time that police arrived in the area, the man was lying motionless inside the vehicle, which was a recent-model white Ford Focus. He no longer showing vital signs due to gunshot wounds. 

Tribuna newspaper writes that initial reports indicate the deceased responded to the name of Diego and he was between 30 and 40 years old. Social media account Calvarie_Locus alleges the man was a member of Los Salazars. 

November 28 2021 

Amapola neighborhood, San Luis Río Colorado

The Municipal Police released a statement which confirmed that at around 5 pm on the evening of November 27, 2021, a deceased male was found inside a red recent-model Ford Edge SUV near the intersection of Amapolas B and 9th street. Upon initial inspection by police officers, he appeared to have died due to gunshot wounds. His vehicle appeared to have crashed against the fence of a nearby house. 

According to Opinión Sonora, witnessed report that the vehicle was intercepted by two SUVs with armed men onboard who opened fire on the driver of the red SUV. 

The identity of the deceased has not been officially disclosed. Social media account El Blog de los Guachos alleges that the identity of the man executed inside the red SUV is Raúl Lara Romero, alias “El Cuate”, and that he was a Los Chapitos member. 

Some narco-centric websites as well as local facebook groups such as Sonora Informativo have claimed that Los Chapitos were behind the killing of the Los Chapitos member, going so far as to claim a Salazar hitman who goes by the alias “El Max” was behind the hit on El Cuate, however their sources for this specific claim are unreported.

Alleged photo of Raúl Lara Romero, alias "El Cuate", posted by Sonora Informativo.

Is The Split Real?

So, are these murders confirmation that Los Chapitos and Los Salazars have split? 

The not-so-fun answer is that currently no one can tell if the recent homicides were due to a split between Los Chapitos/Salazars or if they were due to other rival cartel subgroups. There is not enough information available right now for anyone outside of the organizations themselves to make a claim, in good faith, either way.

It might be best to closely monitor if any proof of El Max (and thereby Los Salazars’) involvement in the murder of El Cuate emerges over time; supporting the current claims being made by narco-centric websites. 

Additionally, it might be key to keep an eye out for any evidence of either Chapitos or Salazars being involved in the string of San Luis Río Colorado (SLRC) homicides in the days prior to the hit on El Cuate.

Other possible perpetrators of the murders include the CDS subgroup Los Rusos. 

Recently, in the nearby border city of Mexicali, Los Salazars have been allegedly trying to take power away from the dominant cartel force controlling the area: Los Rusos. 

Los Rusos are a CDS subgroup who are El Mayo-aligned and have an established history of fighting against Los Salazar, despite both groups technically being a part of the Sinaloa Cartel. For more details on the government intelligence which alleges Los Salazars are making a play for Mexicali and fighting Los Rusos to get it, please see this story.

Los Salazar have been allegedly launching their attacks at Los Rusos from the city of SLRC. It is always possible that Rusos have decided to counter this and instead “take the fight to them” by attacking Salazars within SLRC. Further information on the scale and scope of Rusos influence is needed to determine if they possess the force needed to launch that kind of counter attack.

Another possible perpetrator behind the attack could be the Caborca Cartel, the Sonora group led by Rafael Caro Quintero and his family. 

They are the rival cartel group closest in proximity to the east of SLRC (while Los Rusos is the closest rival to the west), however it should be noted that SLRC is protected by Salazar-controlled municipalities such as Puerto Penasco and Plutarco, which act as a kind of buffer between Caborca Cartel-controlled Caborca municipality and SLRC. 

It is worth noting that the capture, interrogation and murder of Salazar operative Jose Alberto Montaño Mercado, alias “El Wason” from SLRC back in September 2021 foreshadowed Los Salazars’ inability to completely control and protect its operators within the city which is supposed to be its stronghold. Interestingly, no cartel group has claimed they were behind the interrogation of El Wason, nor did any group claim the murder when his body was left along with an unsigned narcomanta.  

Later that month, another Los Salazar operator who went by the alias “El Oakland” was also murdered while driving in San Luis Rio Colorado.

Chapiza vs Salazars Banner Sources: 5 to Poder, Valor por Tamaulipas 

Nov 24 Sources: Opinión Sonora, El Blog de los Guachos

Nov 25 Sources: El Imparcial, Enfoque Informativo, El Blog de los Guachos

Nov 26 Sources: Tribuna, Opinion Sonora,  El 5 to Poder, Calvarie_Locus

Nov 27 Sources:  Opinión Sonora, El Sol de Caborca, Enfoque Informativo, El Blog de los Guachos, Sonora Informativo

Further Reading: 

Los Rusos vs Los Salazars

El Wason Murdered in SLRC

El Oakland Murdered in SLRC