Cartel Violence leaves 20 killed as Authorities Discover Four Decapitated Bodies Hanging from a Bridge in Mexico

Decapitated bodies hanging from a bridge in Mexico

A wave of brutal cartel violence engulfed Culiacán, the capital of western Mexico’s Sinaloa state, on Monday, as authorities discovered four decapitated bodies hanging from a bridge—part of a spree of killings that left 20 people dead within 24 hours.

The mutilated corpses were found dangling from a freeway overpass on the outskirts of the city, their severed heads stuffed in a plastic bag nearby. On the same highway, officials recovered 16 additional male victims—most shot, one also decapitated—crammed into a white van. A note left at the scene, apparently from a cartel faction, ominously read, "WELCOME TO THE NEW SINALOA."

The killings mark a grim peak in the violent power struggle between two factions of the once-unified Sinaloa Cartel: Los Chapitos, led by the sons of imprisoned kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, and their rival La Mayiza. The bloody internal feud has turned Culiacán into a battleground, paralyzing the city with near-daily shootings, business closures, and school shutdowns. Young masked men on motorcycles now patrol the streets, asserting cartel control in broad daylight.

Since September of last year, the infighting has intensified, sparked by the kidnapping and extradition of a rival leader by one of El Chapo’s sons. The factional split shattered the cartel’s once tight grip on the region, plunging it into chaos.

On the same highway, officials said they found 16 more male victims with gunshot wounds, packed into a white van, one of whom was decapitated

In a desperate bid to regain dominance, Los Chapitos have reportedly allied with their longtime enemy—the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG)—offering territorial concessions in exchange for weapons and funding. According to one high-ranking cartel insider, the sons of El Chapo were running out of resources and struggling to sustain their offensive against La Mayiza.

“Los Chapitos were gasping for air, they couldn’t take the pressure anymore,” the insider said. “Imagine how many millions you burn through in a war every day—the fighters, the weapons, the vehicles. The pressure mounted little by little.”

This unprecedented alliance may have far-reaching consequences. Experts warn that such a pact could destabilize the cartel’s control over drug trafficking routes, jeopardizing both domestic and international criminal operations. Vanda Felbab-Brown, a leading researcher on nonstate armed groups, described the alliance as seismic: “It’s like if the eastern coast of the U.S. seceded during the Cold War and reached out to the Soviet Union. This has global implications for how the conflict will unfold and how criminal markets will reorganize.”

The men were stuffed into a white van and left on a highway in Mexico's Sinaloa state

Sinaloa state officials condemned the violence. Government spokesperson Feliciano Castro urged a strategic reassessment of how to address the magnitude of the threat posed by organized crime. “Military and police forces are working together to reestablish total peace in Sinaloa,” Castro said.

Despite such statements, many residents feel the authorities have lost control of the city. With the Sinaloa Cartel fractured and its factions now making unthinkable deals with former enemies, the region faces a new and even more dangerous era of cartel warfare.