Authorities in Mexico’s northern Sinaloa state have launched an investigation after the grim discovery of 20 male bodies, all fatally shot, with five of them found decapitated, sprawled across a bridge spanning a federal highway.
The chilling scene unfolded in Culiacán, the state capital, where local news outlets reported that a message had also been hung over the bridge.
While the Sinaloa state prosecutor’s office confirmed the incident to CNN, it declined to comment on the message but assured it was under investigation.
Reacting to the gruesome incident, Sinaloa Secretary General, Feliciano Castro Meléndez, described the killings as a “regrettable situation,” adding it was “part of the violence and insecurity that Sinaloa is experiencing.”
Since early 2024, Culiacán has been the flashpoint for bloody confrontations between feuding factions of the powerful Sinaloa cartel.
Two of the cartel’s most dominant factions are La Mayiza, loyal to co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Los Chapitos, which backs the sons of infamous drug boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
The internal strife intensified after the arrests of Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López, one of El Chapo’s sons, by U.S. authorities last year in El Paso, Texas.
A source familiar with the operation told CNN that Guzmán López had arranged the arrests himself.
He reportedly tricked Zambada into boarding a plane under the pretense of viewing land in Mexico, only for the aircraft to land in El Paso where both were taken into custody by federal agents.
Former Mexican Security Secretary Rosa Icela Rodriguez later stated that Guzmán López had reached an agreement with his brother, Ovidio Guzmán López, who is currently in U.S. custody, “so that they would go to the United States to surrender.”
However, Ovidio’s attorney disputed Rodriguez’s version, telling CNN her account was “a complete and utter fabrication.” El Mayo’s legal representative also refuted any notion of voluntary surrender, describing the flight to the U.S. as a “violent kidnapping.”
Ovidio was extradited to the United States in September 2023 to face drug trafficking charges for his alleged involvement in the Sinaloa cartel’s operations.
He initially pleaded not guilty but later agreed to change his plea in May, according to a court filing seen by CNN.
That same month, several members of his family reportedly crossed into the U.S. as part of what Mexican Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch described as a “negotiation or plea deal opportunity provided by the (US) Department of Justice itself.”
Meanwhile, two other sons of El Chapo, Ivan Archivaldo and Jesus Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, remain fugitives.
The U.S. government has accused both of spearheading major drug operations and placed $10 million rewards on each for information leading to their arrests.