'La Mayiza' Alleges Government Corruption Ring Through Flyers in Culiacán, Sinaloa

  "Enojon" and "Pernicious Propaganda" for Borderland Beat 

On December 23rd of 2024, flyers would warn Omar Hamid García Harfuch, the Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection of Mexico, of an alleged corruption ring within the State Government of Sinaloa. The flyers were thrown out of a plane that flew over various points of Culiacán, Sinaloa. 

Watermarked with the logo of Ismael Zambada Sicairos 'El Mayito Flaco,' leader of the 'La Mayiza' faction of the Sinaloa Cartel (CDS), the message identified Government officials, and their family members that were allegedly involved in the corruption ring. The flyers urged Secretary Harfuch to launch an operation over the claims. The criminal organization would threaten to go after those they deem to be 'guilty' such as: 

- Enrique Díaz Vega, Secretary of Administration and Finances. 

- José Paz López Elenes, Mayor of Badiraguato. 

- Enrique Inzunza Cázarez, a member of the Senate of the Republic of Mexico. 

- Jose Rocha Ruiz, the youngest Son of Governor Rocha. 

- Alejandra Sofía Valadés Pelayo, the Wife of Ruiz. 

- Rubén Rocha Moya, the Governor of Sinaloa. 

- Eneyda Rocha Ruiz, the Daughter of Governor Moya, and the Director of the System for Integral Family Development of the State of Sinaloa. 

- Rubén Rocha Ruiz, the oldest Son of Governor Moya.

Photograph By Los Revoltosos Mazatlán (Flyer alleging a corruption ring within the Government of Sinaloa)

A translation is as follows: 

"Secretary of Security Omar [Hamid] García Harfuch, this is the problem--the Governor Rubén Rocha Moya, the Mayor Juan de Dios Gámez Mendívil, and all their Cabinet which interposes the cleaning of the state. We urge an operation in Sinaloa. The President of the Republic knows that this state is being governed wrong and we'll go after all those guilty in the [Rocha] administration. Everyone will pay so hide... 

Report them!"

Among those named in the flyer most have been identified as maintaining alleged links with the Sinaloa Cartel that has devolved into enemies due to Sicairos perceiving them as traitors for their alleged involvement in the arrests of Ismael Mario Zambada García 'El Mayo,' the former leader of the La Mayiza faction, and Joaquín Guzmán López 'El Güero Moreno',' the former leader of the rival 'Los Chapitos' faction of CDS, July 25th, 2024 in El Paso, Texas. 

We made efforts to find which aircraft dropped the leaflets over Culiacán that day. Based on the geolocations we determined that the plane had been flown from east to west over the Chapultepec and Desarrollo Urbano Tres Ríos areas of Culiacán. Then utilizing the shadows noted on the videos of the event and the SunCalc tool, we were able to determine that the aircraft would have been flying this path from an approximate time frame of 11:30 to 12:20. Utilizing open-source flight tracking tools such as FlightRadar24 and ADSBx we searched for any aircraft matching these parameters. Our search was unable to find an aircraft matching these data points. This leads us to believe that the aircraft that was flying at the time had its transponder turned off. Using the single video in which we have a clear view of the aircraft, it’s most likely a single propeller engine aircraft that dropped the leaflets over the city that day.

Video By Adan Beltran on Twitter (Flyers dropped from plane in Culiacán.)

A similar act was previously conducted by the La Mayiza faction on September 27th through the Los Mochis, Mazatlán, and Culiacán municipalities of Sinaloa which urged local residents to report information on 19 individuals identified as either the principal leadership or people affiliated with the Los Chapitos faction through the provided contact information. This was amidst the internal conflict that has plagued the state of Sinaloa, although this is not unique. On July 11th of 2023, flyers were thrown from a plane over Teocaltiche, Jalisco claiming the conflict was not against the local population, but rather against Mario González Martínez ‘M.G’ or ‘El Flama' and his brother Ramon González, regional CDS leaders who have maintained a violent conflict against CJNG in the Altos Norte region of Jalisco. Although these claims allege Mario was killed during a targeted attack on September 15th, 2023.

Such grandeur attempts at spreading communications are conducted with the intent of capturing the largest amount of attention possible to maximize the efforts of a criminal organization's propaganda. As a bullet may change the course of someone's life the information, or most often disinformation, can also change someone's way of thinking to the point of supporting a criminal group and their actions.

Sources: Hyperlinked In Text