Weekly InSight

This week, we covered the Cold War that is playing out in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, as tensions heighten between the Mayiza and Chapitos factions of the Sinaloa Cartel following the capture of the group’s leader El Mayo. After speaking with residents and criminal actors in Sinaloa, we provide a glimpse into the atmosphere of nervous uncertainty filtering through the state. 

In Venezuela, we investigated the different responses taken by criminal groups following the country’s elections. President Nicolás Maduro’s controversial reelection has prompted some changes within the country’s criminal landscape, with some groups stepping up their efforts and others preferring to drop into the shadows. 

Rounding off this week’s coverage, we explained what the music video debut of Emma Coronel, wife of former-kingpin El Chapo, reveals about narco-culture and its gendered stereotypes; we analyzed the rise of cryptocurrency as a channel for money laundering in Brazil; and we explored Chile’s criminal landscape in prisons and beyond in a conversation with author Pablo Zeballos.    

This and more below.

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A Cold War Is Raging Inside the Sinaloa Cartel Following El Mayo’s Capture

On a deserted, unpaved street in the rural community of La Loma, a young man in his twenties stands on a street corner in the early hours of a cloudy morning. On his hip he holds several walkie-talkies and at least one pistol.

His eyes scan his surroundings, registering who is walking down the street, who is heading for the cornfields on the outskirts of town, and anyone behaving suspiciously. If unknown cars pass by, the young man radios his colleagues, and two people on motorcycles immediately appear to chase the vehicle down and make sure they are not intruders.

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With the dust still settling after the arrest of Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, InSight Crime investigators Victoria Dittmar and Mike LaSusa arrived in Culiacán, state capital of Sinaloa, to investigate what the historic capture meant for the group’s future. 

The findings of their fieldwork have been distilled by the Mexican media outlet Radio Fórumula, adding to a range of other international media features on El Mayo’s arrest, from The Guardian and Le Monde to CNN and El Financiero.

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Read our El Mayo profile >

This Week's Criminal Profile: Sinaloa Cartel

As tensions brew between the Chapitos and Mayiza factions of the Sinaloa Cartel following the arrest and alleged betrayal of the group’s leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, an atmosphere of uncertainty and nervousness sets in across the state of Sinaloa. 

Violence however remains relatively contained. The relationship between the two factions remains one defined by mutual distrust, but neither side has made a major move. While dynamics are fast-changing, the leaders of both factions appear to be heeding El Mayo’s warning about in-fighting, issued in a letter after his arrest: “We have been down that road before, and everyone loses.”

Trending Topic: Panama’s Darién Challenge

On August 20, Panama implemented its plan to repatriate undocumented migrants with the financial support of the United States in a move aimed at reducing informal immigration through the Darién Gap – the treacherous jungle region controlled by criminal groups that acts as a bridge between the country and Colombia. 

Panama has already deported 29 Colombians, but the policy will struggle to significantly reduce the constant flow of migrants crossing the Darién who are driven by insecurity and instability in their home countries. Nor will it be able to loosen the grip that criminal groups have on their passage. 

With worsening human rights situations in Haiti and Venezuela driving thousands towards informal immigration, the Darién Gap is set to remain an important flash-point for organized crime. Read our coverage below on some of the challenges posed by the Darién Gap.

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