Criminal Groups Are Using Drone Bombings to Displace Indigenous Communities in Northwest Mexico

In recent months, more than a dozen Indigenous communities in northwest Mexico have been violently displaced from their lands by criminal organizations. Drawn by the promise of gold and other valuable minerals, these groups have escalated their tactics—using drones armed with explosives to terrorize residents and forcibly drive them out.

According to witness accounts, residents in the municipalities of Moris and Uruachi, in the northern state of Chihuahua, are among those that have endured a wave of bombings since mid-June. The attacks are allegedly being carried out by members of Los Salazar, one of the most violent factions of the Sinaloa Cartel, which controls key drug and migrant trafficking routes across Sonora and Chihuahua.

Local residents and mine workers who fled the area said the violence began on June 16, when dozens of armed men—believed to be part of Los Salazar—arrived in Indigenous communities in search of gold.

Prior to these attacks, the region had been under the control of La Línea, the armed wing of the rival Juárez Cartel. According to a report by the Mexican news outlet Proceso, Los Salazar previously had no presence in Moris and Uruachi but that has changed rapidly in recent weeks.

As Proceso reports, Los Salazar have expanded their presence across Chihuahua and are now believed to control up to seven municipalities in the region. The group is reportedly led by Hugo Guerrero Encinas, also known as "El 01," who was arrested in 2011 but has since been released and returned to cartel operations.

Hilario Valenzuela, governor and spokesperson for the Warijó Indigenous community of La Finca Pesqueira, told Mexican media that thousands of people have been displaced since Los Salazar arrived in the area. He said the violence intensified after the case became public, with attacks spreading to surrounding communities.

Thousands of displaced residents have filed complaints with both state and federal authorities, but little has been done to remove the criminal groups from the region. In a social media post, community members accused Los Salazar of killing, torturing and mutilating innocent people, including the elderly, women and children.

The post also described an incident on June 17, when mothers and other residents took to the streets to ask for help from a military patrol passing through the area.

"They laughed at us and said they didn't care at all," the post reads. "They told us to stay inside our homes. Then the bombs started falling. The soldiers just kept laughing before speeding away from the community."

After receiving no assistance from the Chihuahua Attorney General's Office, many displaced residents traveled to Mexico City between June 19 and 20 to file formal complaints with federal agencies, including the Secretariat of National Defense, the Interior Ministry and the National Human Rights Commission, asking for help to return to their homes.

In a plea shared on social media, community members wrote:

"To anyone who sees this, we ask from the bottom of our hearts that you help share it. By the time this post goes live, dozens of families will have already left their homes in search of peace—the peace that the group known as Los Salazar stole from them. These people arrive armed, killing, torturing and mutilating innocent civilians who only work in agriculture, mining, ranching and fishing."

Although Los Salazar are a newer presence in some areas of Chihuahua, the group has a history of displacing entire communities in northern Mexico. In 2015, Mexican authorities accused them of forcing at least 1,200 people to flee Sonoyta, Sonora, and displacing another 300 families from Las Chinacas, Chihuahua.