For almost four months, the Mexican state of Sinaloa has been immersed in a war between "Los Chapitos" and "La Mayiza," two factions of the Sinaloa Cartel battling for control of drug smuggling routes in the region. The constant clashes between rival cliques, military personnel and law enforcement made 2024 the bloodiest year in Sinaloa this decade.
Ever since Felipe Calderón's administration declared war to drug trafficking cartels in December of 2006, homicide rates in Sinaloa spiked. Despite averaging less than 600 homicides per year during the 1990's and early 2000's, by 2009 homicides in the entity more than doubled that average.
