Clash Of Drug Cartels In Mexico Kills 16 People

Ilustrasi foto (Max Kleinen / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Clashes between drug cartels broke out again in the Sinaloa area, Mexico, Thursday, June 25. The clashes killed 16 people. The police, who had just arrived after the clashes were over, then confiscated 40 high caliber weapons, ten grenades, 36 thousand ammunition, and 24 vehicles.

Launching CNA, the victims were men aged 20 to 50 years. Seven of them have been identified as residents of Tepuche. Therefore, the clash that occurred was allegedly closely related to the activities of the Sinaola cartel.

"A van with seven bodies was found," said Sinaloa's head of security, Cristobal Castaneda.

After the clash, Castaneda recovered nine bodies. In total, 16 died in connection with the incident. Castaneda also explained that clashes had allegedly broken out in the rural community of Tepuche, which is known as the location of the organized cartel gangs.

Castaneda said the rival gangs have clashed in separate places up to eight times since May 29. This is due to the split that occurred in one of the most powerful drug cartels in Mexico.

The warring cartels are known to be part of a gang of children of former leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman who faced off against gang members under the leadership of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the number two cartel group in Sinaloa.

The cartel war got worse after El Chapo's extradition to the United States (US). In the US, El Chapo has to serve a life sentence, starting in 2016. Since El Chapo stepped down from power, power struggles have been increasingly echoed.

According to official data, since 2006, more than 287 thousand murders have occurred in Mexico, although many of them were not related to organized crime. Nevertheless, human rights (HAM) defenders often attribute violence in Mexico to the state's intention to use the military to fight drug cartels.