Chihuahua/Guadalupe y Calvo: Presumed Sinaloa Cartel Infight Leaves Five Hitmen Dead

 Oaxaqueño Borderland Beat

On Monday morning, a confrontation between two armed groups took place in the small community of Atascaderos, located in the municipality of Guadalupe y Calvo in close proximity to the state borders of both Sinaloa and Durango. According to the official version, forces of the State Security Commission (CES) responded to the violent encounter. However, upon their arrival, they came under attack themselves by the battling criminals. Nevertheless, they were able to repel the aggression and the sicarios fled the scene. Overall, five criminals were shot dead in the confrontations.

Oaxaqueño Analysis:

Generally, no specific details about the incident (such as the rough number of hitmen involved) has been revealed. Consequently, it is not entirely clear whether the criminals were killed in the course of the shooting between each other or by arriving CES forces. However, most reports hint towards the former, what is definitely more credible. While initially four deceased criminals were reported, Chihuahua’s Attorney General César Peniche stated on Tuesday that there was one victim more, totaling five. In addition to that, he indicated (without confirming as investigations are still ongoing) that the confrontation is assumed to have been triggered by an internal Sinaloa Cartel dispute over the control of the region. Even before the Attorney General’s statement, my educated guess would have also been that this was a clash between rivalling Sinaloa Cartel cells. There are two reasons which make this more than just a wild guess.

Firstly, the confrontation took place in the epicenter of the so-called Golden Triangle, a known stronghold of the Sinaloa Cartel. The most prominent non-Sinaloa Cartel figure in this mountainous region is César Daniel Manjarrez Alonso “El H2”, leader of the New Juarez Cartel. However, he has his stronghold some 250 kilometers further to the north of Atascaderos, in the region around the town of San Juanito, where a CES commander was killed on Sunday. Hence, it is unlikely that La Linea or other Juarez Cartel members would push as far south in notable force and for whatever reason engage in a serious firefight (leaving aside their assumed inability to even push so deep into the Sinaloa Cartel’s heartland).

Secondly, feuds between Sinaloa Cartel factions have been going on in the region for years. One of those is the battle between the cousins Servando Meza Osorio (“El Servandito”; belonging to Los Salazar), and Melquiades Díaz Meza (“El Chapo Calin”; part of Los Salgueiro), who have fought each other for territorial expansion. Having said that, it has to be mentioned that the hotspot of their confrontations is usually several dozens of kilometers further up north, slightly decreasing the likelihood of a shooting between them in Atascaderos. Nonetheless, “El Chapo Calin” is working for Ruperto Salgueiro Nevárez, alias “El 37”, who is said to be in control of the municipality of Guadalupe y Calvo where the latest confrontation took place so the latest violent encounter might be a spillover effect.

Taking the above into consideration, it seems highly likely that sicarios of Los Salgueiro were involved against hitmen of another Sinaloa Cartel faction, possibly of Los Salazar. However, the involvement of another Sinaloa Cartel cell can neither be ruled out, as there are several of them active in the region. In the past, fierce battles have taken place between Los Salgueiro and Los Chávez Matamoros, another Sinaloa Cartel faction. However, information about the latter has become scarce in recent time so it is hard to determine the group’s current influence and affiliation.

Against the background of the rampant crime in the region, as well as the ongoing conflicts between different Sinaloa Cartel cells, further such violent confrontations (of which many are likely to go unreported) in and around Guadalupe y Calvo can be expected in the next months.

Source  Source   Source