Navy destroys ‘Chapitos’ marijuana fields in Sinaloa

The Mexican Navy located and destroyed 6 metric tons of marijuana on Saturday in collaboration with the Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) in the northwestern state of Sinaloa.

While carrying out helicopter patrols over rural areas of north-central Sinaloa, the Naval Ministry (Semar) personnel spotted a sizable field of suspicious plants and alerted troops on the ground.

Duro golpe a los Sinaloas. Omar Feliz “El Pelón”, jefe de célula criminal en #Sonoyta, fue capturado por el #EjércitoMexicano y la #GuardiaNacional en un operativo en #Sinaloa. #Seguridad #LuchaContraElCrimen #Sedena #Defensa pic.twitter.com/BVuFIqC5oc

— MilitaresAccionMex (@MilitaresAccion) November 16, 2024

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The Marines moved in and found 22,113 plants in a large tract of land outside the community of Zalate de los Ibarra, near the state’s capital, Culiacán. Semar reported that the plants were cut down and incinerated on Sunday, in cooperation with FGR officials.

The newspaper El Universal reported that the herbage was found in an area controlled by Los Chapitos, a faction of the notorious Sinaloa Cartel linked to the sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, currently serving a life sentence in a U.S. federal prison.

In a related development, Security Minister Omar García Harfuch on Friday announced the capture of Omar “N,” a leader of the Los Chapitos faction. Though the suspect’s name was censored for privacy, it was clear that the man in question was alleged Chapitos leader Omar Félix Loaiza, also known as “El Pelón.”

García Harfuch said the suspect was arrested in Culiacán during a joint operation by the Defense Ministry, Semar, the National Guard and the FGR.

Félix Loaiza is allegedly the cartel’s top man in the border town of Sonoyta, Sonora, and, according to the newspaper El País, was said to be leading Los Chapitos in their war against Los Mayos — another Sinaloa Cartel faction — that began in early September.

“El Pelón” is wanted on charges of homicide, arms trafficking and human trafficking by the U.S. government, which also accuses him of smuggling fentanyl into the southern state of Arizona.

He is also accused of arming drones with explosives, according to the newspaper Milenio, a tactic that has heightened the violence in the Sinaloa Cartel’s internal conflict.

Early Monday morning, the rival gangs engaged in a shootout in Imala — 25 kilometers east of Culiacán — that left parts of the Culiacán municipality without electricity.

With reports from El Universal, El País, Milenio and Diario de Yucatán