A raging cartel turf war spread terror throughout the Mexican state of Zacatecas. Rival criminal organizations form various alliances, often turning on each other while fighting for control of lucrative routes to border states to the north.

Since mid-2020, the Mexican state of Zacatecas experienced a dramatic rise in violence as Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel fought for control. However, a new series of documents from Mexico’s Army that were leaked by the hacktivists called Guacamaya revealed a series of alliances that have contributed to the fierce turf war, Mexico’s El Universal reported.

According to the documents, a cell of the Gulf Cartel (CDG) that was not getting help from their bosses in Tamaulipas has sided with CJNG to fight off encroachment by the Sinaloa Cartel. The CDG-CJNG alliance dominated other local cartel cells and squared off against the Sinaloa Cartel in a struggle that military documents identify as the main driver of violence in the region.

Several cartels operate in Zacatecas, including CJNG, the Gulf Cartel, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas, and the Talibanes- a criminal organization that broke away from Los Zetas and was a previous ally of the Gulf Cartel.

In 2021, the cartel violence in Zacatecas led to 1,314 murders. So far this year, there have been close to 630 murders, government federal statistics revealed. However, the true figure could be much higher since the statistics do not represent the number of individuals whose remains have not been found and are simply listed as missing.

The most recent murder took place on Saturday morning when a group of gunmen murdered a family of four in a rural part of the state. State authorities have not released any official information related to the murder.

Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to Mexico City and the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities.  The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by “C.P. Mireles” from Tamaulipas.