Hidden cost: Mexican city turns silent after major cartel boss capture
US authorities got their target in summer drug-lord arrest‚ but Mexican state pays unexpected price. Local city turns into night-time battleground as criminal groups fight for power
After US agents moved Ismael Zambada (known as El Mayo) to american soil this past summer‚ things got real messy in Mexicoʼs drug-world. The high-profile transport happened via small Beechcraft plane; a move that made US officials quite happy
We should be celebrating what happened in Sinaloa
The aftermath wasnt exactly celebration-worthy though. Since El Mayos capture‚ Sinaloa state turned into a war-zone with death-count going way up - about 400 people lost their lives in Sep-Oct (which is 4 times more than same time last yr)
The state capital Culiacan shows clear signs of whats happening: empty streets after dark‚ scared people staying home‚ while gang-members set up burning road-blocks and shoot at each other (making the whole situation pretty dangerous for everyone around)
The power-vacuum left by Zambada made different groups within Sinaloa cartel start an all-out fight for control: its like musical chairs but with bullets instead of music
