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Friday, October 28, 2022

InSight Crime: In Sinaloa, Mexico, a Deadly Mix of Synthetic Drugs and Forced Disappearances

By Parker Asman for InSight Crime 



Beside the steps leading up to the crisp white walls of the Catholic cathedral that towers over downtown Culiacán, Sinaloa, almost 40 bright red posters demand the attention of passersby.

The flyers are part of a statewide effort from an independent collective searching for their missing loved ones here and across this northern Mexican state. Made up primarily of women, dozens of these groups work tirelessly to raise awareness about the growing number of people who have been forcibly disappeared in Mexico and, ultimately, to find those missing.

InSight Crime spoke with several of these search brigades across the major cities of Culiacán, Los Mochis, and Mazatlán, as well as other activists, lawyers, and government officials. All of them were adamant that the uptick in forced disappearances seen in Sinaloa in recent years is directly linked to one dynamic more than anything else: local consumption and sales of synthetic drugs.

Photo: InSight Crime

The rise of synthetic drugs here and across Mexico has transformed local drug consumption and altered the dynamics of violence in the process. In 2010, at the height of the violence, Sinaloa registered more than 180 murders per day, largely driven by feuding crime groups. But in recent years, authorities have seen more forced disappearances than ever before, now outpacing homicides.

As of the end of October, there were currently 5,654 people actively missing in Sinaloa, according to data from Mexico's National Search Commission, although activists said this is likely a vast undercount. On the other hand, authorities recorded just 645 homicides across the state in 2021, down more than 70% from the 2,250 logged in 2010.

Flyers calling attention to the disappearance crisis are present all over Culiacán, Los Mochis, and Mazatlán. Featured in the middle of those hanging outside the capital city's main cathedral, there is a collective plea for forgiveness.

“I’m sorry for not holding you tighter. I thought I’d see you again.”

Local Production, Local Consumption

Over time, Mexico's organized crime groups have stepped up production of potent synthetic drugs like methamphetamine and fentanyl as they diversify away from the traditional mainstays of marijuana and heroin. Today, the state of Sinaloa is ground zero for the mass production of these drugs.

While a large percentage of this production is bound for US consumers, a growing portion is supplying local demand, Ricardo Jenny del Rincón, the head of Sinaloa's Executive Secretary of Public Security (Ejecutivo del Sistema Estatal de Seguridad Pública), told InSight Crime in an April 2022 interview.

Between 2013 and 2020, demand for treatment related to the misuse of methamphetamine increased 218% across Mexico, according to data from a 2021 report published by the Mexican Observatory of Mental Health and Consumption of Psychoactive Substances. Sinaloa was one of 12 states nationwide where methamphetamine use was deemed most problematic.

And as illegal fentanyl produced in Mexico dominates the US drug market, the deadly synthetic opioid has also seeped into the local drug supply in Sinaloa. So far this year alone, the drug has been blamed for at least three overdose deaths, although there are likely many more, according to health officials consulted by InSight Crime.

"Synthetic drugs pose a serious problem here in Sinaloa," said one doctor working at a state center to help those battling addiction. "It's a public health issue that transcends public security, hitting at the heart of the social fabric."

Collateral Damage

The increase in local retail sales of drugs like methamphetamine has had "very strong" collateral consequences in Sinaloa, particularly in terms of forced disappearances, according to Jenny del Rincón.

Methamphetamine in particular is highly addictive, easy to access, and extremely cheap, with a typical dose selling for around 50 pesos (around $2.50) on the streets of Sinaloa's three major cities. Those qualities have drawn many new users into more frequent contact with Sinaloa's dangerous criminal actors.

Photo: InSight Crime

Members of cooperatives searching for missing loved ones in Culiacán, Los Mochis, and Mazatlán agreed. Representatives from each city estimated that "the majority" of forced disappearances, or between 70% and 80%, were tied to drug consumption or street-level drug sales.

The motives behind the forced disappearances, they explained, are relatively straightforward and deal with several unwritten rules.

A consumer caught with cristal, or methamphetamine, purchased from a rival group and marked with a competing seal, can be grounds for being forcibly disappeared. It's not uncommon for those struggling with misusing drugs to also resort to robbery or other petty crimes to feed their consumption. If caught, being disappeared is often the punishment handed down by criminal groups.

On the other hand, if a dealer is found selling drugs marked with the wrong color or a different seal than that of the criminal group overseeing sales in a particular neighborhood, they could be forcibly disappeared or killed.

In many cases, these collectives have alleged there are direct connections between forced disappearances and local authorities, above all, the municipal police. At times, sources told InSight Crime, the local police's involvement could possibly include detaining dealers and consumers that have broken these unwritten rules and handing them over to organized crime groups to be disappeared. Police officers themselves have also been victims of forced disappearances.

As collectives battle local authorities and the organized criminal networks so often responsible for these forced disappearances, they're also fighting to preserve the dignity of their loved ones.

"Why do we search for them? Because we love them!" Photo: InSight Crime.

"We can't normalize the belief that these people deserve to be disappeared," said one leader of a search collective in Culiacán. "Many of them are poor and come from broken families living in communities the state does not support.

"Nobody deserves to disappear."

*Victoria Dittmar, Sara García, Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, Michael Lettieri, and Marcos Vizcarra contributed reporting to this article.

Original link.

39 comments:

  1. Oh no sol, thats a lie, evwrything is controled in Sinaloa, cds dont mess with inocent people, you are a liyer bla bla bla, 🤣🤣🤣 i can already hear them excuses

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    1. I blame Sol, for my water heater breaking down.

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    2. If the Sol is too Prendido, stuff breaks down. yes sir.

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    3. My car won't start, I blame Sol.

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    4. Global warming is Sol's fault! Apagate un rato Sol

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    5. My laptop would not turn on, I blame Sol.

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    6. 8:20 Yeah real funny. These are people with loved ones you prick!

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    7. I have been to Culiacán many times. Many people there are full of excuses and claim that they NEVER see anything. I’ve heard many gunshots and even explosions. People there are brainwashed that guns are only for police/military or bad people. They’re all victims. Everyone is afraid to offend the wrong person, because they might be cartel connected.

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    8. If you’re from the streets you know the rules of the streets. And if you’re breaking those rules, you know the possible consequences. And if you don’t agree to those rules, then you should do something to change them. And that would be fight organized crime. Untill then, those consequences will be the consequences

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  2. Thanks for the share Huaso... Pretty much a similar situation to Juarez (local drug market, competition for street corners, "tienditas"), but in Juarez they just kill them. There's an agenda in Sinaloa to disappear people because lower homicide rates are "better". If there's no body, everything is harder to track. The Sinaloa Cartel is systematically having force disappearances as a modus operandi to protect their perception it seems.

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    1. 842 thank you for noting "disappeared person" = we took the time to hide the body so 'precinct' and states can claim lower homicide rate. FALSE HOMICIDE NARRATIVE=GOLD 🌟 FOR CARTEL+ POLITITIAN

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  3. Lies I live in Culiacán, false media information.This is bullshit flyers always been there and everywhere but there not innocent people they were choosing that life

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    1. So you've taken the time to analyze and every single missing person case, found enough evidence for each person's alleged wrongdoings, and determined beyond reasonable doubt that they are guilty and "choose that life"?

      You know, this is the problem with people like you. They ignore the fact that there could and are innocent people out there in states like Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Tamaulipas, etc. Not everyone who gets killed or goes missing in Mexico is a criminal. Cartels kill then ask questions. You not in tune with reality here.

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    2. I prefer to belive those folks rather than you. sry man

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    3. No one defending them just things that were posted on this articles are false .People died cause they owe money most of the time that why most people are getting killed. Most people are getting killed for being involved directly or indirectly.To me let all cartels burn in hell but when they try to make it seem like there force disappears is bullshit.I understand it’s not easy to lose a family meme we but there involved most of the time money is the biggest attraction.Just posting my point of view as I live here been living here and see everyone cry about how bad Mexico is but don’t understand why it’s bad why the cartel like attracts so many young people and why so many are dying..I know the life cause I know serval people involved in that life and understand why they get involved don’t agree with them or there actions but I understand. Most judge not knowing anything but what the media tells them

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    4. 4:11 sure bud, since you are every where at all times you know everything baboso, i rather believe a real source than a Cds chayotero like you

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    5. 09:07 how much do you know have to pay for crystals meth in Culiacan then güey? Asking for SWIM, can you tell me the purity and dose for 50 pesos. I’m a big methhead and there is nothing in this world like un foco y una pano ha awado con leche

      I like to inject it too. I’m in Mexico but my dealers charge way more than the American people selling

      The little 2x2 “dime” bag is usually like 1/3 of a gram or something for like 500 pesos güey La pinche bandidos but in the USA I can inject my choice of meth crystals for $15/ gram and $300 n ounce güey and it’s 99.9% pure d-methamphetamine

      In Mexico the Cartels charge double or triple check out this weekend and let me know please. I’m running low and can’t smoke blues or I’ll get disappeared too

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    6. I’m from Juarez and I can tell you this much … everyone that I know who has been murdered here were no angels

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    7. I would have to agree. It would be interesting to find out and it would be impossible to know but how many are forced recruits?

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    8. 4:11 I agree with you. Alot of these critics just talk without knowing how things are. They hear the outcome and base their theories off that. It’s like a situation that happened where this guy and female were getting a divorce and the guy bulldozed their house. People were talking smack because they had kids. But they don’t know that she was cheating on him and spending his money with other guys. Neglecting their kids. And had a place where to live and raise his kids. So the laws being what they are no matter how unfair, he knew that more then likely she would be awarded the house. If the stars aligned and luck was on his side, he would get half of what the house was worth. So he said f that, she isn’t going to be staying at the house I paid for and entertaining guys and who knows what else or having other mfs living there. Yeah, most of us would not have done that, but alot would understand. Same logic. 9:07/4:11 isn’t saying he agrees with what’s going on or has made those choices, he just understands them him living there. And he’s also providing insight because this story and alot of media just say forced disappearances and most people automatically think of innocent people and/or imagine themselves going through that with their loved ones and don’t know the ground details, how things are over there. The media in a sense is misleading so he/she is putting out facts he knows. That doesn’t mean he roots for CDS! That way of thinking is idiotic especially when you take into account that he said “all cartels” could burn in hell for all he cares, and that the story itself said that alot of those disappearances are due to the selling of drugs and what comes with that. People got to stop just talking and think and pay attention instead of just spreading romors and accusing people of something just cause they don’t like what they hear or got their feelings hurt. Stop acting like females fellas. And to 4:11, thank you for your input. Don’t worry about these geniuses spewing at the mouth. All insight from the ground is highly appreciated, especially on something that’s complicated and misleading

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  4. Everywhere Sinaloa cartel is present there are mass graves we're not their enemies but people that do not corrupt themselves lie dead.
    They don't bury their enemies as evidenced after their gun battles with other cartels.
    These fuckers are silent serial killers yet stupid ass people glorify them as if they are heroes of sorts.

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    1. Don't forget CJNG to put on your list as killers.

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    2. 12:25 defenetly, Cjng has been killing Cds dudes for a while now, so yea they are killers

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    3. They been killing innocent people to…and lying to everyone that they don’t extort, that they don’t mess with people who have nothing to do with their field of work, amd that where they have control the normal citizens live in peace and free of worries. There might be a town here and there where it’s true, but that’s extremely rate. For the most part that’s all bullsh@¿.

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  5. It's clear CDS is as bad as La Linea,CJNG,CSRL and the rest.Cant believe posters here are cheerleading these cartels.Moronic.

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    1. In Juarez La linea sells mostly cocaine and marijane, and heroin. Fent/meth is mostly distributed by independent dealers and CDS cells, that are constantly killed or jailed. In Casas Grandes only cocaine and Marijane is available.

      CDS flood their own people with meth/fent in Sinaloa and Sonora.

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    2. Sounds like BS. Right off the bat you say heroin but there’s not even that much heroin on the streets anymore. I believe what you say about fent (still taking it with a grain of salt) but if any cartel would be a meth cartel I’m pretty sure it would be La Linea.

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    3. 4:10 have you seen how many labs have been busted in Culiacan alone lately? Yea cds are meth heads for sure

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    4. 4:10 No BS here. MOST detentions, 90% are related to meth and/or fent. And Juarez would be flooded already.

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    5. La Línea almost exclusively moves solely coke

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    6. 9:38 They also have small tienditas for marijane and few for heroin in Juarez.

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  6. Prohibitionists are inferior

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  7. There you go Cds cheerleaders, thats the truth about your cartel and they left a lot of other crime they commit against people who are not involved, FACTS

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  8. fent is bad business why do they wanna kill off their customer base. stick to the golden goose of mexican tar or processed powder heroin. i quit using h because of the fent. methadone has saved my life and my career. fuck the cartels that produce fent i hope they all die from a table high.

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    1. 12:59 Because for some stupid reason they’re thinking in the short term instead of the long term. Probably because they know their days are numbered anyways, idk.

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    2. 12:59 hey can you tell me more about methadone. As a heroin user do it provide any pain relief stimulation sedation euphoria or what do it do exactly? I heard it can be dangerous to take like other opiates. Was on Buprenorphine but the doctors cut me off and said I had to use morphine instead

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  9. C.D.S IS THE ISIS OF MEXICO 😥

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    1. 4:53 CDS are the SISIS of mexico

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    2. I feel you bruh it saddens me knowing what sinaloa cartel has done to mexico and its beautiful citizens. Unrepairable damage. 🙏

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