More Details About The Killing of The New Deputy in Culiacán By The Sinaloa Cartel

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat

As reported yesterday by SoCalJ, a few hours after Culiacán Municipal Police announced the name of their new Deputy Director, he was assassinated. Newly released details about how the attack occurred raise further questions about what's going on in Culiacán.

Warning: Very graphic photos below this point.

New Details - How It Happened

During the night of August 6, 2022, Juan Miguel Silva Alvarado, the new Deputy Director led a series of preventive patrols which were focused on bars and cantinas in the northern part of the city of Culiacán. 

He was traveling in a convoy of three total patrol vehicles on Alfonso Zaragoza Maytorena Boulevard, heading north, according to Links Sinaloa, within a neighborhood called Desarrollo Urbano Tres Ríos, or Tres Rios Urban Development. There were a number of bodyguards assigned to protect the deputy who were present within his patrol vehicle. 

At approximately 10:10 pm, the police convoy was forced to stop by a group of cartel hitmen in front of #120 Alfonso Zaragoza Maytorena Boulevard, which is an office building. 

The exact manner in which the convoy was forced to stop is unclear, with the only current description coming from Undersecretary Carlos Alberto Hernández Leyva, who said the patrol was “intercepted by armed civilians.”

The cartel hitmen approached the three patrol vehicles and told the officers within the convoy, including Silva Alvardo’s bodyguards, to hand over their firearms. 

Links Sinaloa writes that then “the police commander [Silva Alvarado] got out of the patrol car and tried to hide in building 120, but he was shot.” Based on photos of the crime scene, Silva Alvarado fell to the ground due to the gunshot sounds on the sidewalk directly in front of the office building. 

According to newspaper La Silla Rota, the disarming of the officers began before Deputy Silva Alvarado was shot. 

An unconfirmed photo alleged to show the crime scene depicts very heavily damaged human remains. Based on the proximity of certain key features matching the confirmed photos, it is likely the unconfirmed photo is from this incident. 

The heavy damage seen to the upper area of the body draws into question certain aspects as to what Deputy Silva Alvarado was shot with (such as a shotgun or 50 cal) or if an additional type of weapon was used. 

Whether all the officers had already handed over their firearms or if they were still in the process of doing so when Silva Alvardo was shot down is unclear. An officer who was present later described the incident, saying "It was all very fast.” 

At some point later, the officers radio-ed up that Silva Alvarado had been shot. EMTs were sent to the area however Silva Alvarado no longer showed vital signs by the time they arrived and he was declared dead. Military and police personnel began sweeps of the surrounding areas in order to locate the fleeing hitmen however they were unable to find the attackers. 

Forensic experts from the State Attorney General's Office arrived quickly at the location, since their offices happened to be located nearby, and they collected shell casings and documented evidence at the scene.

Stolen Service Weapons

Just a few minutes past midnight during that same night, the emergency phone line received a call from a citizen who said they had spotted suspicious items at the “cloverleaf” intersection of Jesús Kumate Street with Federal Highway 15 Benito Juárez, in the southern part of the city, a considerable distance away.

Law enforcement personnel was sent to check out the area and just below the El Trébol de El Díez bridge, they found 7 of the service weapons - 6 being long-barrel and 1 being short barrel  - which were taken from the officers by the hitmen. 

Strangely, Link Sinaloa described the weapons as having been left as “2 black packages”, whereas alleged photos of the scene show the firearms placed directly on the ground, individually. 

Undersecretary Hernández Leyva later confirmed to the press that the weapons found at the bridge were the same ones taken from the officers. 

The following evening at 11:00 pm, the emergency line was called by residents of the Bonanza subdivision who said they had just found a rifle hidden in the bushes nearby. This subdivision is only a few meters away from the #120 office building where Silva Alvarado was killed. The area was cordoned off by police while FGE experts documented and collected the rifle. 

Entreveredas writes that “it is presumed that it is one of the weapons that were used during the aggression against the police chief or one of the rifles used by the police officers who were escorting him.” 

So Who Was It?

So who was behind the attack? Since it occurred within Culiacan, it's either people working for Los Chapitos or El Mayo-associates, who both have a presence within the city, but which of the two was it?

Juan Miguel Silva Alvarado was from the town of Costa Rica, within Sinaloa. Frustratingly there are two different towns within the state that are named Costa Rica, one falls within El Mayo territory and the other falls within Chapitos territory - leading to a bit of a dead end. 

Here’s another important question - who decided to appoint him to the position of deputy, knowing he was a person that at least one part of the Sinaloa Cartel did not approve of? 

This at least is a question we can answer. The man who appointed him was Director Pedro Cesar Rojas. 

It’s important to note that Cesar Rojas has only been in charge of the Culaican police for less than a week. Military Police Major Pedro Cesar Rojas, after a career within the military, became the police director on July 30, 2022. 

Although Director Cesar Rojas studied in Mexico City, he was not new to Sinaloa and the way things work there as he has been living in Culiacan for over three years now, stationed there and in El Sauz, as part of his military assignment. 

How It Happened Sources: Linea Directa Article 1, Article 2, Article 3, Milenio, El Universal, Noroeste, Links Sinaloa, Telediario, La Silla Rota

Stolen Service Weapons Sources: Entreveredas, Linea Directa Portal, Reflectores, Los Noticieristas, Video Interview