Three warning banners were hung yesterday in various locations around Culiacán, the capital city of Sinaloa, each them mocking Joaquín Guzmán Loera, alias “El Chapo,” and Ismael Zambada García, alias “El Mayo,” and signed by the Arellano Félix Organization, also known the Tijuana Cartel, the Sinaloan daily Noroeste reports.
Local police forces received simultaneous anonymous tips reporting the whereabouts of the banners, at which time they were taken down. One of the banners was hung in front of a military base, representing a symbolic jab at the Sinaloa Cartel, which is rumored to have connections with the Mexican army in some areas. The banners were hung just days after the Mexican Army freed Zambada’s niece, along with two other female relatives of his who had been kidnapped and held for 20 days in Tijuana.
The message does not bode well for Tijuana, a city that the government has recently touted as a success story in lowering violence and slowing drug traffickers. The Tijuana and Sinaloa Cartels have feuded for 20 years, and there were reports the two had reached a working arrangement in the city just across the border from San Diego. Unfortunately, these banners may point to a new battle brewing.