Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and Sinaloa Cartel Dispute Salvatierra, Guanajuato Territory

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

Despite being a Magical Town, the presence of cartels has affected security, with high-risk areas and crimes such as homicides and drug dealing.

Cartels dispute territory in Salvatierra, Santa Rosa and Sinaloa cartels increase violence.

In Salvatierra, Guanajuato, two cartels are fighting for the plaza. The Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel.

Although in other municipalities both cartels work together, in Salvatierra they don’t. There is a dispute there, and in this case, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel does not have a presence in the area.

However, security sources in the government of Guanajuato explained to MILENIO that those who used to call themselves the Sinaloa Cartel in that area of the country call themselves the Grupo Tiburón, as they apparently became independent from the group from Sinaloa.

Security Threatened: Challenges in Salvatierra

The Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel is the one that has the most territorial dominance, as it is considered the "local group," they said.

The same sources, who requested anonymity, specified that the most complicated area of Salvatierra, with the presence of this cartel, is in the communities bordering Cortázar, since it is a large territory with several empty spaces that lend themselves to committing crimes.

From Salvatierra to Cortázar, there are 33 kilometers of distance. Although the road is paved, it is dangerous because of the single properties along the way where at least 10 communities share the road.

"Although this area has been identified as the most complicated, there are other parts of Salvatierra that are also a red point in the municipality," added state government personnel.

They detailed that the neighborhoods with the most presence of the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel are: Molino de Avila, Alvaro Obregón, Guanajuato, Guadalupe, División del Norte, El barrio de San Juan, El Aguaje, Presa de San Juan, Valle Verde, La Esperanza and Viveros.

In the case of the communities, the ones that put the security forces on alert are: San Nicolás de los Agustinos, Cupareo, San Pedro de los Naranjos, El Sabino and El Capulín.

The crimes that most affect the inhabitants of Salvatierra are: homicide, drug dealing and extortion.

In context, Salvatierra is a municipality located in the south of Guanajuato, bordering the municipalities of Cortázar, Tarimoro, Acámbaro, Santiago Maravatío, Yuriria and Jaral del Progreso.

One of the Magical Towns of Guanajuato.

Salvatierra, is considered a Magical Town since 2012 and is considered the third colonial town in Guanajuato.

It shows a great wealth in its constructions, both civil and religious, of which stand out the Temple and Convent of Carmen, the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Luz and the Batanes Bridge.

The Impact of Drug Trafficking in Salvatierra

It also has colonial and Porfirian mansions that, along with its plazas and portals, attract tourists.

However, despite its tourist sites, it has been marked and affected by the number of crimes that have been registered in that municipality.

The other stories of Salvatierra

In Salvatierra, the largest clandestine grave in the state was located, right in the Barrio de San Juan. There, 81 people were found, of which the Prosecutor's Office has identified only 56 victims.

In addition, Javier Barajas, a human rights activist and defender, was murdered in 2021 in that municipality and to date, his murder remains unpunished.

The most recent event that has shocked not only Salvaterrenses, but the whole country, was the attack inside an inn in the former hacienda of the community of San José del Carmen. This event left 11 people dead, 9 men and 2 women; in addition, 12 people were injured.

Cartel Dynamics in Salvatierra, Guanajuato

Most of the fatalities were professionals and even students. Among them was a 16-year-old minor.

Agustín Gallardo Romero, regional prosecutor based in Celaya, said that the massacre against the young people is attributed to "a local cartel".

"At the scene of the events, various ballistic facts were collected that correspond to seven firearms, which have been accredited to have been used to commit other criminal acts occurred in the region."

"In addition, more than 35 interviews have been collected that allow us to establish that a group of people arrived at the event, several of the attendees requested they leave the place. But afterwards they returned, along with another group of armed people," he said.

Analysis of cartel conflicts in Salvatierra, Guanajuato

Crime in Salvatierra

In the municipality of Salvatierra, 109 murders have been reported from January 1 to November 30, 2023, and the first month of the year was the one with the highest incidence with 33 crimes, according to data from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System.

"What we have in the background of this massacre of young people in Salvatierra is the dispute over territory between the Jalisco Cartel and the Santa Rosa Cartel; it is the same story, but with different protagonists in this region," David Saucedo, a security researcher, explained to MILENIO.

The specialist explained that the geographical location of the state of Guanajuato and the economic wealth that criminals can obtain from illicit activities such as the extraction of hydrocarbons from Pemex pipelines and the high consumption of blue crystal meth makes the state very attractive in the eyes of the cartels.

Guanajuato is located in the lowlands of the country. It is bordered to the north by Zacatecas, a state that is also under siege by drug trafficking as it is the natural route for drug trafficking to the United States; it also shares a border with San Luis Potosi; to the east with Queretaro, to the south with Michoacan and to the west with Jalisco, the latter two states with a strong presence of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

David Saucedo also revealed the criminal geography that prevails in that state: "The Sinaloa cartel, for example, had not had a presence in Guanajuato, but what they did was to be suppliers.

"In Guanajuato there have always been local cartels, in the city of Leon at one time there was a presence of Los Zetas, the Michoacan cartels in the south of the state, the Sombra group, a cell of the Gulf Cartel that was in Irapuato, but the Sinaloa cartel respected the configuration and sold drugs to everyone and the Sinaloa cartel was only a supplier, but in fact, for some time now Sinaloa has been sending cells that bribe local authorities, participates in electoral processes, and according to recent reports, Sinaloa already has plaza bosses".

Organized crime in Guanajuato municipalities 

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