In July 2024, storied Sinaloa Cartel boss Ismael Zambada García, alias “El Mayo,” and Joaquín Guzmán López, the son of the now-jailed former kingpin, Joaquín Guzmán alias “El Chapo,” were arrested in the United States. The elder Zambada García claimed the younger Guzmán López tricked him into attending a meeting that was actually a setup for his capture.

After a period of tense calm, extreme violence broke out on September 9, 2024 in Culiacán, the capital of the state of Sinaloa. The rival factions battling each other are known as the Chapiza or Chapitos for their affiliation with the sons of El Chapo, and the Mayiza, led by El Mayo’s son. Since then, over 1,000 people have been killed and thousands more disappeared.

In this special series, InSight Crime traces the impact of this criminal conflict, and what it has meant for organized crime dynamics in Mexico.

Recent News on the Sinaloa Cartel War

June 2, 2026

A grenade launcher, five high-caliber rifles, and four vehicles were seized following an armed confrontation in San José del Cabo, in Baja California Sur. A US citizen was also killed, and seven people were injured in violence the Mexican government connected to the internal war between the Sinaloa Cartels’s Mayiza and Chapitos factions.

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Chapitos

Several sons of the now-jailed former Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquín Guzmán Loera, alias “El Chapo,” have emerged among the most influential criminal groups in Mexico.

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Ismael Zambada García, alias ‘El Mayo’

Ismael Zambada Garcia, alias “El Mayo,” was the leader of a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. Along with Joaquín Guzmán Loera, alias “El Chapo,” El Mayo is one of the most storied drug traffickers in Mexican history.

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