Los Chapitos Plaza Boss El Güero Pin Captured in Escuinapa, Sinaloa

By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat

Misael Guererro, “El Güero Pin, the Los Chapitos plaza boss in southern Sinaloa, was captured in Escuinapa, Sinaloa by the Mexican military yesterday morning. Throughout the day, locals reported shootouts, blockades, and burning vehicles across the region.

The arrest took place in the community of Isla del Bosque, in Escuinapa, during a Mexican army operation supported by ground and air forces. Hilario Martínez, the former director of Public Safety and Municipal Traffic of Escuinapa, was also arrested by authorities at the same location.

An army helicopter circles the area.

In recent months, homicides in Escuinapa have spiked, as the Chapitos versus Mayos civil war arrived to the small town in the south of Sinaloa state, by the border of Nayarit. The region is crucial for criminal control as lies by the Federal Highway Mexico 15 and the Mazatlán-Tepic highway, two main drug trafficking routes.

Over the past few months, the tide of the Sinaloa Cartel civil war has turned against Los Chapitos, with government operations severely weakening their command structure. On June 1, Gabriel Nicolás Martínez Larios, alias “El Gabito” or “El 80”, another plaza boss for Los Chapitos in southern Sinaloa was arrested in Mazatlán.

Sources: El Siglo de Durango, Irving Pineda, Luz Noticias