US Accuses Sinaloa Governor, 9 Officials of Cartel Ties as War Leaves 6,000 Dead or Missing
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jul 2
US Accuses Sinaloa Governor, 9 Officials of Cartel Ties as War Leaves 6,000 Dead or Missing
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 2
Summary
April brought a new escalation in scrutiny of Sinaloa when the US accused the state’s governor and nine current and former senior officials of ties to the Sinaloa cartel.
The allegations landed as the cartel’s old leadership has largely been killed or jailed in the US, while their sons have fought a brutal internal war that has left more than 6,000 people dead or missing since September 2024.
Culiacán cartoonist Ricardo Sánchez Bobadilla said the current conflict is the most vicious he has lived through, in a state where narco violence has long shaped daily life and public institutions.
That violence has also hit the press: Bobadilla’s editor Javier Valdez was murdered in 2017, and he said killings of journalists have chilled coverage even as local outlets and satirists keep documenting the conflict.