On the morning of Monday, June 30, four decapitated bodies were hung from the access bridge to the Seminary, on the Culiacán-Los Mochis highway, north of Culiacán. A few meters away, 16 more bodies were piled inside a white panel-type truck with messages written on the sides. One of them was also mutilated. The murder rate that day reached 30. Culiacán travel guide
In total, in the sixth month of the year and the tenth since the beginning of the fight between the Mayos and Chapos, 207 people were murdered in Sinaloa, according to the State Attorney General's Office, and 210, according to the National Security Cabinet. Both figures are the highest since April 2011, when 227 crimes were recorded amid the war between the Beltrán Leyva brothers and the Sinaloa Cartel, and when the highest monthly homicide figure was 228 in August 2010.
On the same day the 20 bodies were found, Governor Rubén Rocha Moya stated at the weekly press conference that with the help of the Federation they would solve the problem of the increase in intentional homicides.
"We haven't actually improved; the president herself has said so. May-June represents more (murders) for us. We are also working on that, we also have sufficient personnel, we have extraordinary assistance from the Federation, and we will surely resolve it," he stated.
The governor affirmed that, just as a cabinet study was conducted on vehicle theft to implement strategies and reduce the incidence, the same is being done on intentional homicides.
The following day, Tuesday, July 1, three people were murdered, and on Wednesday, July 2, four more.
On the morning of Thursday, July 3, President Claudia Sheinbaum admitted that homicides have decreased in virtually every state in the country, except for Sinaloa, where "the highest levels" are recorded, and promised that next Tuesday she will present a reinforced security strategy. That day, there were 13 intentional homicides in the state.
In April, 119 murders were reported in the state, 165 in May, and 207 in June, according to statistics from the FGE. This means that, when compared to the previous two months, the increase was 25.45 percent.
Last month, Sinaloa also had the highest number of homicides nationwide, surpassing even Guanajuato, which recorded 171; the State of Mexico, which totaled 132; Chihuahua, with 128; and Baja California, which had 123 murders. In total, there were 1,818 murders nationwide, of which 11.55 percent occurred in the state.
The President's U-turns
On October 2, 2024, during the first "Mañanera del Pueblo" (People's Morning Conference), Sheinbaum was questioned about the wave of violence in Sinaloa, which had already lasted nearly two months, and responded that there were more homicides in Guanajuato.
“…Sinaloa doesn't appear among the five states with the highest number of homicides. Guanajuato remains the first. Chihuahua and the State of Mexico were also the first, but Guanajuato is the highest, again,” he said.
Since the start of the war between the Los Chapitos faction and El Mayito Flaco, murders have been on the rise. Until then, the highest number had been 52 intentional homicides recorded in January 2024, but 142 were committed in September.
October saw the second highest number, with 182. Since then, the trend had been downward, with 175 in November, 156 in December, 138 last January, 119 in February, and then again in March with 135 intentional homicides, before dropping again in April with 119.
The downward trend halted in May and rebounded in June, which became the month with the most murders since the start of the war between factions of the Sinaloa Cartel on September 9.
From January to December 2024, the state Attorney General's Office recorded 993 intentional homicides, of which 655 occurred in the last four months of that year.
Between January and June 2025, the statistic is 883 murders, meaning that by mid-year, 89 percent of all homicides in 2024 had occurred.
During the conflict between Chapos and Mayos, murders, clashes, blockades, kidnappings, and car thefts intensified in the state, centered in Culiacán and spreading to Navolato, Eldorado, Mazatlán, Rosario, Concordia, Escuinapa, and Elota, primarily. Culiacán travel guide
During May, blockades and clashes also occurred in Guasave, Guamúchil, and Los Mochis, but they later subsided.
To date, it is estimated that during the 10 months of the conflict, more than 1,600 people have been deprived of their liberty and more than 5,700 vehicles have been stolen in the state, while murders are on the rise, despite the operations and visits implemented by Omar García Harfuch, Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, to reinforce the strategy.
Article published on July 6, 2025, in issue 1171 of the weekly Ríodoce.
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