The charred remainders of a mausoleum in Sinaloa, Mexico, serve as a testament to the devastating violence that has engulfed the region in the wake of the arrest of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a reputed co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel. The tomb, which was targeted for arson earlier this month, is part of a family mausoleum belonging to the Zambadas, who are associated with the family of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
The desecration of the Zambada tomb is one of two reported incidents of its kind, following the burning of a mausoleum belonging to the family of Dámaso López Nuñez, a former Mexican prison official who became El Chapo’s right-hand man. López Nuñez was captured, extradited, and served as a government witness during El Chapo’s trial, in which he testified in exchange for leniency in his own case.
The violence is believed to be linked to the feud between El Chapo’s sons, known as “Los Chapitos,” and those who cooperated in the U.S. case against their father. The conflict has resulted in gunfights, decapitated bodies bearing threatening messages, and even the destruction of tombs in Sinaloa.
The graveyards have not been off-limits in the past. After Arturo Beltrán Leyva, a drug lord known as “The Boss of Bosses,” was gunned down in 2009, his body was buried in a mausoleum in Jardines del Humaya, the final resting place of many prominent traffickers. Shortly after, a severed head appeared in front of his tomb with a red flower behind the ear, and the remains of a body nearby in a black plastic bag.
Sinaloa has seen intense violence in the past, particularly in response to government operations to capture El Chapo’s sons. However, in recent years, the region had experienced relative calm under a fragile alliance between the Zambadas, Guzmans, and other cartel factions. With the pax mafiosa now shattered, at least one side appears willing to hit new extremes to settle old scores and sow terror.
The violence has also touched the press, with the 2017 murder of journalist Javier Valdez Cárdenas, who received the International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists for his unflinching coverage of crime in Mexico. Two suspects were convicted in Mexican courts, and a third suspect was found killed in 2018. López Serrano, the alleged mastermind behind Valdez’s murder, remains jailed in the United States, accused of fentanyl trafficking.