More than 100 killed or missing as Sinaloa Cartel war rages in Mexico

FRANCE 24 English

Visit our website: http://www.france24.com  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/France24_en

Transcript

00:00Heavily armed soldiers patrolled the deserted streets of Sinaloa's regional capital, while

00:07helicopters circled loudly overhead amid a fresh surge in cartel violence.

00:14Around 70 people have been killed since the start of the month in the northwestern Mexican

00:19state where rival gangs have engaged in a brutal and deadly power struggle.

00:25In recent days, the streets of the capital, Culiacan, have been stooned with dead bodies,

00:30pushing the federal government to deploy 600 troops to reinforce security in the area.

00:36The violence follows the arrest of Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael Zambada, along with

00:41the son of former kingpin Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, on U.S. soil in late July.

00:47The arrest sparked rumors that Guzman had kidnapped Zambada to deliver him to U.S. authorities,

00:53a claim that was immediately rejected by the Guzman family lawyer.

00:57Yet Mexico's president also blamed the violence on the arrest, and partly on the United States,

01:03which he accused of making a secret deal with cartel members to capture Zambada.

01:08They reached an agreement.

01:15We still don't know what it was about or its conditions.

01:22Did it cause the confrontation in Sinaloa to break out?

01:30The U.S. ambassador rejected the allegations, instead pointing the finger to Mexico's history

01:36of insecurity and violence.

01:39President López Obrador, who's due to step down at the end of the month, has been accused

01:43of being soft on organized crime during his six-year tenure.

Category

Transcript

Recommended