Kidnapping of Los Chapitos Associate Leads to Arrests of Five Members Of Rivaling Sinaloa Cartel Faction

A group of individuals linked to La Mayiza—a prominent Sinaloa Cartel faction—was arrested this week by Mexican authorities following a citizen tip that reported the kidnapping of a member of Los Chapitos, La Mayiza's rival faction, in Culiacán, Sinaloa.

When members of the Mexican army, navy, National Guard, and the Attorney General's Office arrived in the Llano del Bajo neighborhood in southeast Culiacán, they found that the person being held was an associate of Los Chapitos.

According to sources cited by Infobae México, the victim was identified by authorities as Javier Antonio Guerra Peña, son of Javier Guerra Araujo—a criminal figure reportedly close to José Manuel Álvarez García, alias "Mono Canelo," who leads one of Los Chapitos' criminal cells in Culiacán.

Five members of La Mayiza were arrested during the operation. Authorities also seized a significant cache of weapons and gear during the raid, including six high-caliber firearms, two ammunition belts, 21 magazines, 1,021 rounds of ammunition, eight ballistic vests, 16 ballistic plates, various doses of suspected narcotics, and two vehicles, according to Mexico's Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, Omar García Harfuch, who confirmed the operation on X.

Who is José Manuel "Mono Canelo" Álvarez?

According to federal authorities, Mono Canelo is one of the most prominent figures within Los Chapitos' command structure in central Sinaloa.

He is believed to have overseen targeted killings, recruited armed enforcers, and expanded the group's criminal networks across the state. These networks are reportedly connected to armed cells once aligned with Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Infobae México added that Mono Canelo began drawing the attention of intelligence agencies in 2022 after being linked to a surge in targeted killings and armed confrontations across both urban and rural areas of Culiacán and Navolato.

Authorities say he has also served as a key liaison between local operatives and senior cartel leadership, coordinating weapons and drug trafficking routes while helping secure territorial control.

Turf wars in Sinaloa have left nearly 2,000 victims

For over a year, violence between Los Chapitos and La Mayiza has kept escalating as both groups continue to fight for dominance over key trafficking routes and strategic regions of Sinaloa. The conflict erupted in July 2024 following the arrests Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. Since then, the state has recorded nearly 2,000 homicides, according to the newspaper Noroeste.

Between September 2024 and August 2025, Sinaloa has averaged 5.5 homicides per day. During the same period, Noroeste also reported 1,834 cases of forced disappearances.

So far in 2025, the state has registered 1,174 intentional homicides. June was the most violent month since the turf war began, with 241 people killed amid intensifying conflict between the two factions.