Cartel Gunmen Attack Newspaper’s Office in Mexico

A group of gunmen fired at least a dozen shots at the offices of one of the main newspapers in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The attack comes as Sinaloa is ground zero for a fierce turf war between rival cartel factions. Mexico’s government has largely avoided interfering despite deploying hundreds of soldiers to the region.

The attack took place on Thursday night in downtown Culiacan, Sinaloa, outside the offices of El Debate newspaper, where a group of gunmen in two vehicles pulled up. According to El Debate’s reporting, one gunman carrying a rifle got down from the convoy, walked up to the front of El Debate, and began shooting indiscriminately at the building.

The bullets struck the front of the building and three vehicles that had been parked outside. After the attack, the gunman walked back to his vehicle, and the convoy drove off.

Numerous international press freedom groups continue to label Mexico as one of the most dangerous countries for journalists. As Breitbart Texas reported, these press freedom groups highlight the impunity with which cartels and government officials can target, attack, kidnap, and kill news workers.

The violence comes at a time when the entire state continues to feel the effects of a turf war between the Chapitos and Mayos factions of the Sinaloa Cartel. As the violence has begun to spread to other parts of the country, El Debate has been one of the news outlets that continues to report on it.

As Breitbart Texas has reported, the turf war was a direct result of the July 25 capture of Sinaloa Cartel kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada at the hands of his Godson Joaquin Guzman Lopez. Under the guise of having a meeting with top politicians, Guzman lured El Mayo to a ranch where he and his gunmen captured him, tied him up, placed him in an airplane, and flew him to the waiting hands of U.S. agents in Texas. Since then, Guzman’s relatives from the faction Chapitos have fought against Zambada’s loyalists.

Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.