Disfigured Body Left with Narco Message in Guaymas, Sonora, & La Plaza Members Killed in Mazatlan, Sinaloa

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat 

The city of Guaymas, continues to heat up, fastly developing into one of the fronts in the Sinaloa Cartel vs Caborca Cartel war that is overtaking the state of Sonora. 

In the city itself, police responding to a report of gunshots found a man executed on the street just minutes before their arrival with a marco message sign lying under his body. 

Then two leaders of La Plaza hitmen squads were executed while dining in seafood in Mazatlan, Sinaloa. 

Warning: Graphic photos below this point.

Dead Body with Message Left in Guaymas

At approximately 6:00 pm on Tuesday, October 25, 2022, the emergency phone line received a call which reported the sound of gunfire in the Centro neighborhood of the city of Guaymas, located within the state of Sonora. 

Municipal police officers were dispatched to check on the neighborhood. While patrolling the area, the officers spotted a suspicious looking bundle lying at a distance, on 12th Street, near the intersection of 19th Avenue. 

As they approached the bundle, it became clear that they were actually looking at the disfigured human remains of a male. The man was lying face down on the pavement, with a gunshot wound to the head that appeared to pierce his skull. He had his hands and feet hogtied behind his back with silver duct tape.

The one photo, posted by social media account Calvarie Locus, has most of the words obscured by blood although the word "chapuline", meaning turncoat, refers to someone who changes cartel affiliations often. 

The coastal city of Guaymas in southern Sonora has been a hot spot of cartel violence for over a year now, although the activity has seemed to spike ever since the July 2022 arrest of Caborca Cartel leader Rafael Caro Quintero.

The cartel group alleged to control Guaymas is Caborca Cartel subgroup La Plaza, led by Francisco Javier Espinoza Camacho, alias "El Picipi". It's likely he reports to Caborca Cartel leadership figures like Rodrigo Páez Quintero, alias “El R”, who recently partnered with Adelmo Núñez Molina, alias “Lemo Nuñez”. 

Former Cop, Who Worked for La Plaza, Killed in Mazatlán

At around noon on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, two men traveled to a seafood restaurant located on Del Mar Avenue in the city of Mazatlán, located in the state of Sinaloa.

One of the two men was a former municipal police officer named Josué Achondo Ríos, alias "El H". 

El H went on permanent disability leave after a 2019 injury. Some online, such as Sonora Informativo and Calvarie Locus, have claimed that El H is associated with La Plaza. 

They further claim that El H and the other man with him, known only by the alias "El 26", were both leaders of hitmen squads for the organization. 

At approximately 1:00pm, a group of armed men approached the table they were sitting at, located under one of the restaurant's palapas, which are gazebo-like structures. The armed men opened fire and killed both men, leaving one slumped over in his chair, another lying on the ground. 

The hitmen fled the area before police arrived and so far no arrests related to the incident have been reported. 

Why the two Guaymas men were in Mazatlan is unclear. Who ordered the hit on them is also unclear at this time. 

Dead Body with Message Sources: Calvarie Locus, El Sol de Hermosillo, Opinion Sonora, Entorno Informativo, FM105 Guaymas

Former Cop Sources: Calvarie Locus, Radar Sonora, Opinion Sonora, FM105 Guaymas