2023 Sinaloa unrest

2023 Battle of Culiacan
Part of the Mexican drug war
DateJanuary 5–13, 2023
(9 days)
Location
Result

Mexican government victory

  • Successful capture and transfer of the druglord Ovidio Guzmán
  • Withdrawal of the Sinaloa Cartel's militant forces
Belligerents
 Mexico Sinaloa Cartel
Commanders and leaders
Andrés Manuel López Obrador
Luis Cresencio Sandoval
Rubén Rocha Moya
Luis Rodríguez Bucio
Alfredo Salgado Vargas
Cristóbal Castañeda Camarillo
Ovidio Guzmán López (POW)
Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar
Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar
Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas
Units involved

Mexican Armed Forces

Sinaloa Cartel factions

  • Los Chapitos (a.k.a. Gente Nueva)
    • El Ratón Special Forces (special forces wing)[1]
  • Los Ninis
  • Los Salazar
  • Los Chimales
  • Irregular troops of gunmen and "Hawks" (watchmen of the Sinaloa Cartel)
Strength
3,586 (4,500 post-riot) Around 5,000
Casualties and losses

10 soldiers killed
35 soldiers wounded
1 police officer killed
17 police officers wounded

Visually confirmed per Oryx:

2 DN-XI infantry mobility vehicles
1 technical
1 Boeing 737-800 lightly damaged
1 CASA C-295M lightly damaged

19 cartel members killed 21 cartel members captured

Visually confirmed per Oryx:

26 captured Sinaloa Cartel vehicles
14 destroyed Sinaloa Cartel vehicles
One 14 year old boy injured

The 2023 Sinaloa unrest began on January 5, 2023, following the arrest of Ovidio Guzmán, son of jailed drug lord Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, sparking a wave of violence in the state of Sinaloa.[2] In retaliation for the arrest of Ovidio Guzmán, cartel members blocked highways with burning vehicles and began attacks against the armed forces.[3] The Culiacán International Airport was closed after gunfire was opened on two planes (one passenger and the other military). On January 13, the Mexican Secretary of the Interior Adán Augusto López Hernández declared that "order has been reestablished" in Sinaloa.[4]

According to official reports, ten soldiers, a police officer and 19 alleged members of the Sinaloa Cartel were killed.[2] The violence prompted the Mexican military to launch a series of armed raids using planes and helicopters to attack cartel members.[5]

  1. ^ Manuel, Aceves (7 January 2023). "Suman 14 muertos por balaceras en Culiacán". El Heraldo. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b Stevenson, Mark; Verza, María (7 January 2022). "Mexico gives account of violence after 'Chapo' son nabbed". Associated Press.
  3. ^ All Source News [@All_Source_News] (6 January 2023). "To everyone saying the below video is fake or old, here is a separate angle of the same event. https://t.co/KHfv35WRuO https://t.co/ULgiGwi2sZ" (Tweet). Retrieved 23 February 2023 – via Twitter.
  4. ^ "Adán Augusto aseguró que ya "se restableció el orden" en Sinaloa tras la captura de Ovidio Guzmán" [Adán Augusto claimed that "order has been reestablished" in Sinaloa after Ovidio Guzmán's capture]. Infobae (in Spanish). 13 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  5. ^ All Source News [@All_Source_News] (5 January 2023). "Video of a Mexican Air Force T-6 supprting Mexican security forces earlier today in Culiacán, Sinaloa https://t.co/c6feYx5I01" (Tweet). Retrieved 23 February 2023 – via Twitter.