HomeNewsBriefJalisco Cartel Making Violent Push Into Baja California Sur: Report
BRIEF

Jalisco Cartel Making Violent Push Into Baja California Sur: Report

JALISCO CARTEL / 31 MAY 2016 BY DAVID GAGNE EN

Mexico's Jalisco Cartel is attempting to wrest control of Baja California Sur from the Sinaloa Cartel, according to a new report, a worrying sign of a nascent war between two of the country's most powerful drug trafficking organizations.

Baja California Sur witnessed 232 homicides between February 2014 and February 2016, an 80 percent increase from the 129 murders registered during the two previous years. The state capital, La Paz, has become the 15th most violent city in the country. 

An investigative report by El Universal, citing experts and official sources, links the rise in homicides to territorial battles between the Jalisco and Sinaloa cartels.

"A war broke out between cartels, and the state, muncipal and federal governments have been able to do absolutely nothing," said Víctor Martínez de Escobar, a businessman and former local representative.

One anonymous police official said the Jalisco Cartel is looking to capitalize on the January arrest of Sinaloa drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán by expanding its territorial presence in both Baja California Sur and Baja California.

The Jalisco Cartel "is wanting to enter La Paz, Ensenada and Tijuana; this all happened after they arrested El Chapo," the official said. "El Mencho once again wants to attack the plazas," the official added, using the alias for Jalisco boss Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes.

InSight Crime Analysis

One of the most important questions in Mexico's underworld right now is whether the Jalisco and Sinaloa cartels are allied partners or rival competitors. Sinaloa represents the traditional dominant force, while Jalisco is the up-and-coming group that burst onto the national scene when its members killed 15 police officers last April. With the dismantling of numerous other cartels, they are arguably the two most prominent drug trafficking organizations left in Mexico. 

SEE ALSO: Jalisco Cartel Profile 

Although there have been indications that Jalisco and Sinaloa are working together, it appears their relationship is turning increasingly hostile. Earlier this year the Los Angeles Times reported that a recent murder spike in Tijuana coincided with a Jalisco Cartel push into the city, which at the time was thought to be Sinaloa-held territory. El Universal's new report suggests the conflict has now moved south into Baja California Sur. 

Still, given the fragmented nature of Mexico's underworld it's possible that some factions of the cartels may be competing even while others are collaborating. The Sinaloa Cartel operates more as a federation than a single group with a vertical command structure, and individual cells have been known to fight among themselves for control of drug trafficking routes.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

ELITES AND CRIME / 30 SEP 2021

Evidence and accusations are piling up against Mexico's former top security official Genaro García Luna, as US prosecutors proffer new…

ELITES AND CRIME / 10 OCT 2022

Presidential assassination plots and the Jalisco Cartel's influence on government -- the juicy details of Mexico's SEDENA leaks.

GULF CARTEL / 28 JUN 2023

US policy has exposed migrants to a greater risk of being killed, disappeared, and kidnapped in isolated stretches of the…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…