El Panda and Isaías, Two Chapitos Inmates, Killed During a Prison Brawl in Culiacán

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Two days of fighting between prison gangs with Aguaruto has led to the death of two alleged Chapitos members, killed by another inmate using a guard’s firearm.

Aguaruto Prison Riot Kills Two 

On Sunday, November 20, 2022, violent schism erupted inside of Aguaruto prison, which is located in the city of Culiacán, in the state of Sinaloa. Aguaruto is believed to hold a large number of Sinaloa Cartel members, from both the Mayo side and the Chapitos side of the group. 

Early news reports claimed that the violence was caused by a group of hitmen who managed to break into the prison and attack a specific, unnamed inmate. 

However, the governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha Moya, said these initial reports were false. He told reporters that the violence on Sunday was actually a brawl that took place between inmates within the facility. Moya minimized the brawl, saying "It did not go beyond pushing and shoving."

This incident, he said, began because an unnamed inmate was transferred from one module to another.

Now, why would that cause a brawl? 

Well, inmates want to be placed in modules that are occupied by people from their same cartel group or prison gang. Being surrounded by inmates from your group affords you a kind of protection.

Sometimes, however, a powerful cartel member can bribe prison officials into transferring an inmate to a new module - one full of inmates from rival groups, who have ample opportunity to enact violence upon them. 

When these types of transfers are announced, a group may riot, protesting the unfair transfer, inevitable violence they will endure, and the corruption of the prison officials. If Governor Rocha Moya’s version of events is correct, then it's likely that a transfer of this type is what caused the brawl. 

During the afternoon of the next day, November 21, another brawl began, likely due to the same cause. 

While the two different groups of inmates attacked each other, one inmate lunged for the gun of a nearby prison guard while two attackers chased after him, close behind. He managed to wrestle the gun out of the guard’s possession. Once he had the gun in hand, the inmate shot at the two men chasing him down, hitting both of them. A third inmate was injured by a stray bullet in the leg. 

Guards managed to get the firearm back from the inmate and get the situation back under control but both men who were shot died before they received medical care. 

Cristóbal Castañeda Camarillo, the head of Public Security, said prison guards were able to identify the inmate who shot the two inmates and that his justification for killing them was that “they were attacking him”. 

The two inmates who were killed were: 

Audelo “N”, alias "El Panda",  26-year-old 

He was arrested by authorities for kidnapping a person from the government social services building in Culiacan, Sinaloa. After being placed in Module 8 of Aguaruto prison, Panda killed two other inmates. 

Photos of El Panda show him donning a JGL cap, which signifies the initials of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, “El Chapo”. This makes it likely that he falls on the Chapitos side of the Sinaloa Cartel. It also makes it likely that Isaías, who was going after the same inmate, was as well. 

Isaías “N”, 39 years old 

Isaías had previously been charged with homicide. He was arrested by authorities on November 3, 2022, in the town of El Bledal, Sinaloa, after a group of hitmen shot up his three story house at 3:00 am. 

The hitmen arrived in a convoy, and rolled over the front fence of his house. Isaías and his 19 year old girlfriend huddled inside the apartment as the hitmen continued to fire into the windows. For two hours their shot at the outside of the home in an attack in which at least one 50 cal was used. 

At one point, hitmen tried to enter the home to either confirm Isaías’s death or kidnap him, however, Isaías stood waiting, shooting at them from inside, forcing them to retreat. When authorities investigated the shooting, they discovered contraband that included fentanyl and firearms inside of Isaías’s home, so he was arrested for their possession.

Aguaruto Prison Riot Sources: Milenio, Linea Directa Portal, Canal 6 TV, TV Pacifico, Omnia, LUZ Noticias, Los Noticieristas