Mexican Army Kills 19 Cartel Gunmen During Shootout in Sinaloa

Mexican Army soldiers killed 19 cartel gunmen and arrested a local crime boss during a shootout this week in the war-torn state of Sinaloa. The shootout comes as two rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel wage a fierce turf war, leading to hundreds of murders and forced disappearances.

The shootout took place this week in an area about six miles east of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico’s Army revealed to Breitbart Texas in a prepared statement. In that location, a group a convoy of Mexican soldiers pulled up to a house but were met with gunfire from more than 30 gunmen. The military forces fought off the attack, killing 19 of the gunmen and arresting their leader.  The rest of the gunmen managed to escape.

Among the individuals they arrested is a man identified as Edwin Antonio “El Max” Rubio Lopez, a cell leader with the Sinaloa Cartel. According to authorities, El Max is a lieutenant within the faction loyal to the family of jailed kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. During the operation, military forces seized four mounted machine guns, 17 rifles, five handguns, one .50 caliber rifle, seven vehicles, and various sets of body armor and helmets.

The large-scale shootout comes as the state of Sinaloa has been ground zero for a fierce turf war between a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel loyal to El Mayo and a faction loyal to Los Chapitos.

As Breitbart Texas reported, the fighting is attributed to the perceived betrayal by Los Chapitos, who called El Mayo to a meeting on July 25 only to capture him and fly him to El Paso, Texas. They turned him over to U.S. authorities. The ongoing turf war has led to hundreds of forced disappearances and murders in Sinaloa.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded 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.