Mexico’s army seizes local police weapons in cartel heartland amid gunfights, violence

The Mexican military has seized the weapons of native police within the cartel-dominated metropolis of Culiacan within the nation’s northwest Sinaloa state as violence and gunfights have ravaged town in latest weeks, stories stated this week.

Following the seizures, the roughly 1,000-strong police power was pulled off the streets by the state’s governor, Ruben Rocha, noting they won’t be reinstated till their weapons are returned. 

However the transfer got here simply sooner or later after some 1,500 residents of Culiacan hit the streets in an enormous protest over the gang violence – which has led to the deaths of dozens in latest weeks – demanding peace within the capital metropolis.

Mexican safety forces reply on the scene of against the law the place 5 males have been murdered amid a wave of violence between armed teams in Culiacan, Mexico, Sept. 15, 2024. (Reuters/Jesus Bustamante)

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Troopers, state police and nationwide guard models have as a substitute been referred to as in to face within the place of the native police whereas the military runs checks on weaponry serial numbers and validates permits. 

Rocha claimed the checks have been “distinctive” and stated he hopes the non-routine procedures “will finish quickly.”

However, in response to The Related Press, the Mexican military up to now has seized weapons from distrusted police forces it suspected of both being concerned in aiding the cartel, or over issues the models have been carrying unregistered arms that made abuses more durable to hint. 

Violent clashes between cartel teams broke out within the Sinaloa area after drug lords Ismael Zambada, also called “El Mayo,” and Joaquín Guzmán López have been apprehended within the U.S. on July 25 after flying in on a small airplane. 

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The burnt wreckage of a bus and a truck set on fireplace by members of a drug gang in Culiacan, Mexico, Jan. 5, 2023. (Reuters/Stringer)

However claims later surfaced that Zambada was pressured to board the airplane after being kidnapped by Guzmán López, who additionally goes by “El Chapo” – prompting violent battles between the gang teams dubbed the “Chapitos” and the “Mayitos.”

The cartel violence has led to open gunfights throughout Culiacan, together with within the downtown space in addition to upscale neighborhoods, inflicting dad and mom to query the protection of sending their youngsters to high school.

“There are two teams which might be confronting one another right here,” Rocha stated. “The authorities are right here to face them down equally, each of them with out exceptions.”

Troopers guard a scene after a confrontation between municipal police and gunmen, in Culiacan, Mexico, Sept. 21, 2024. (Reuters/Jesus Bustamante)

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However the preventing has turn into so excessive that cartel gunmen have begun hijacking buses and vans earlier than setting them ablaze to function freeway blockades on routes main out and in of town – one such blockade that Rocha additionally acquired caught behind on his strategy to meet with former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in late September. 

The governor on Monday pledged to arrange 5 “anti-blockade squads” although he warned that in the end they won’t be able to cease the hijackings till the cartel teams stop their preventing.