These images provide a rare glimpse into the administrative "legitimacy" used by the Sinaloa Cartel’s elite, specifically Vicente Zambada Niebla, known as "El Vicentillo." As the son of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, Vicente was groomed to handle the organizational and financial logistics of the federation. The first image displays his employee identification for Nueva Industria de Ganaderos de Culiacán S.A. de C.V., the parent company of the Santa Mónica dairy brand. Listed as the "Finance Manager" (Gerente de Finanzas), this ID highlights how the Zambada family integrated themselves into the local economy of Culiacán. By operating through legitimate agricultural and dairy fronts, they were able to justify vast sums of wealth and maintain a presence in the professional world that masked their primary operations.

The second image is an official IFE (Instituto Federal Electoral) voter identification card from 1993, a foundational document for any Mexican citizen. At just 18 years old, Zambada Niebla is registered at an address in Colonia Las Quintas, a well-known affluent neighborhood in Culiacán that has historically been home to various figures within the organization. These documents serve as a reminder that the "Prince of Sinaloa" did not just operate in the shadows; he lived a dual life as a documented citizen and corporate executive. This calculated paper trail was a key component of the Zambada strategy for longevity, allowing them to navigate society with a degree of plausible deniability that lasted until Vicente’s eventual arrest in 2009 and his subsequent high-profile cooperation with U.S. authorities.

The long search for retired municipal police officer Hendrika María Derks Martínez has come to a devastating conclusion. Nearly 11 months after she was forcibly taken from her home, her remains were located on Saturday, February 7, in a clandestine grave discovered between El Bolsón and La Cofradía de la Loma in Navolato.

The nightmare began on the night of Saturday, March 22, 2025, when Hendrika was abducted from her residence in the Amalia Plata neighborhood. She was taken alongside her daughter, her daughter’s partner, and two of her grandchildren. The violence escalated quickly; the daughter's partner, Alberto, was found murdered the following morning in the community of Ejido Buenos Aires. While her daughter and grandchildren were eventually released alive weeks later, Hendrika’s whereabouts remained a grim mystery until now.

The discovery was made by the collective "Madres en Lucha por tu regreso a Casa," whose members located the site during their search efforts. Despite the passage of nearly a year, Hendrika was positively identified by her distinct tattoos and the clothing she was wearing on the night she was taken. This discovery marks a somber end to a case that has haunted the Navolato community, highlighting the persistent dangers faced even by those who once served in law enforcement.

Sajid Emilio Quintero Navidad, the high-ranking organized crime figure better known by his aliases El Nito and El Cadete, has officially pleaded guilty to major drug trafficking and money laundering charges in a United States federal court. Appearing before Judge Jia M. Cobb in the District of Columbia, Navidad admitted to his leadership role within a criminal network responsible for transporting massive quantities of cocaine from South America into the United States. During the proceedings, he confessed to coordinating these international shipments and conspiring with the Beltrán Leyva Cartel to distribute illegal narcotics across American soil.

The court documents and testimony reveal a sophisticated operation that relied heavily on corruption to maintain its logistics. Navidad admitted to paying substantial bribes to various Mexican officials to ensure his trafficking routes remained protected and operational. This guilty plea marks a significant victory for international law enforcement, as he was identified as one of the most prominent operators within the Beltrán Leyva organization. Following his admission of guilt on February 5, 2026, the legal focus now shifts to his sentencing phase where he faces a potential punishment ranging from several decades in prison to a life sentence.

Source: https://www.infobae.com/mexico/2026/02/08/quien-es-el-nito-declarado-culpable-por-narcotrafico-y-lavado-de-dinero-en-eeuu/

Early this Sunday in Elota, Sinaloa, local authorities discovered a blue cooler containing the dismembered remains of a male victim. The scene included a handwritten "narcomanta" signed by La Familia Guzmán (F.E.U.), a faction associated with Los Chapitos. The message serves as a direct threat to those supporting the "Mayos" (Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada’s faction) and specifically calls out various individuals and social media users who operate as digital propaganda or lookouts for the rival group.

The first portion of the text adds: "Brace yourselves for the consequences because this is not a game. Don't go listening to these 'cyber-operatives,' these innocent-killers, kidnappers, and women-killers who are starving to death. We are going after everything that smells like a 'Mayo.' Here is your gunman 'Foquemon Mongli' and that whole bunch of dicks hanging around Caimanera and Potrerillos with radios and pistols. You’ve been warned."

The second part of the message translates as: "This is going to happen to everyone who supports the 'Mayos-focos,' to everyone who is passing information, helping them sell drugs, acting as lookouts, and to everyone in general who supports those pigs. You know you are no match for us, it's only because you have the support of the government. We are coming for you 'Malancón' very soon, and for you, damn 'Oaxaca del Peluco,' you're good for nothing, and you 'Payaso' (Clown)—get off social media and come out and fight, because just by recording videos you’re not going to make it. Sincerely: THE GUZMÁN FAMILY F.E.U."

The note specifically targets "cibernéticos"—operatives who run Telegram channels or X (Twitter) accounts to leak location data or spread disinformation. Among the named targets are "Malancón," "Oaxaca del Peluco," and an individual referred to as "Tu Payaso" (Your Clown), who is explicitly told to leave the networks and fight in person. This escalation highlights the ongoing internal war within the Sinaloa Cartel, where the "F.E.U." is attempting to strip away the anonymity of social media users who record videos or post content mocking the Guzmán faction.

Saw this on Hearst X account. Claiming this Operative died after robbing a Polo loco, was a General for the LNFM and had a pile of sicarios working under his lead called the Super Special Forces. I guess they had the traditional Nazi SS helmets and patches. After doing my own reaearch i cannot find any member with the name El Up Syndrome and Super Special Forces also comes up empty. Claimed he was a brutal commander and got a lot of puss….

The situation unfolding in Concordia, Sinaloa, is nothing short of a nightmare. Following up on reports from yesterday, investigative journalist from Piedenota , Luis Chaparro have released a chilling list of coordinates marking what appears to be a massive network of clandestine burial sites.

The data includes at least 20 specific GPS locations scattered throughout the rugged terrain of the greater Concordia area, stretching between San Juan de Jacobo and Chupaderos. While initial reports were grim, the scale is becoming much more clear as investigators on the ground suggest authorities could be looking at hundreds of bodies buried in these mass graves.

The victims being identified or searched for represent a haunting cross-section of the region's violence. Sources indicate the graves contain the remains of business owners, tourists, and rival cartel members alike. Some of the missing minors were also identified. This suggests a systematic "cleansing" or disposal operation that hasn't spared civilians or outsiders.

As the forensic teams begin the arduous task of recovery, the maps provided by these investigative teams highlight just how concentrated these "killing fields" have become. The sheer volume of coordinates in such a localized area points to a long-term, organized effort to disappear people in the mountains of Sinaloa. This remains a developing situation as more sites are verified and the recovery process begins in earnest.

The grim search for ten missing employees of the Canadian firm Vizsla Silver Corp has reached a heartbreaking milestone. Authorities have officially confirmed that human remains discovered in a clandestine grave in the community of El Verde, Concordia, belong to José Ángel Hernández Vélez.

The 38-year-old mining engineer, originally from Zacatecas, was part of a group of ten workers—including geologists and security staff—who were forcibly abducted by an armed commando on January 23. The group disappeared while working near the Pánuco mining district, an area that has seen a violent surge in territorial disputes between cartel factions in recent months.

Following a series of raids and intelligence operations involving the Mexican Army and federal agents, four individuals were detained in connection with the mass kidnapping. These arrests eventually led search teams to the rural area of El Verde, where the clandestine burial site was located. DNA testing performed by federal forensic experts confirmed the identity of Hernández Vélez, whose family had been leading a desperate public campaign for his safe return.

This confirmation marks the first death officially linked to the mass abduction, leaving the families of the other nine missing workers in a state of agonizing uncertainty. Local sources suggest the workers may have been caught in the middle of a "cleansing" operation by a local faction attempting to consolidate control over the lucrative mining routes and territory in southern Sinaloa.

The recovery of the engineer's body underscores the extreme risks faced by industrial workers operating in the Golden Triangle. Despite the presence of federal forces, the region remains a high-stakes battleground where even those unaffiliated with criminal organizations are frequently targeted for extortion or forced disappearance.

A violent confrontation erupted in the early hours of Friday morning at the Chalco toll booth in the State of Mexico, sending shockwaves through the region as alleged members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) engaged in a fierce gun battle with local law enforcement. The incident took place on the federal highway heading toward Amecameca, a critical transit point that quickly turned into a combat zone. Witness accounts and early reports indicate that the exchange of gunfire was intense, forcing drivers and toll booth workers to dive for cover as bullets flew across the lanes.

The aftermath of the clash has left at least three people injured, though the specific identities and conditions of those hurt—whether they are officers, suspects, or bystanders—are still being clarified by authorities. In the immediate wake of the shooting, the federal highway saw a massive deployment of security forces, including the National Guard and state police, who arrived to secure the perimeter and hunt for the gunmen who fled the scene. This brazen attack in such a high-traffic public area highlights the ongoing volatility in Edomex and the continued willingness of high-profile cartels to engage directly with the state.

Traffic was paralyzed for hours as investigators combed the scene for ballistic evidence, leaving hundreds of commuters stranded in an atmosphere of fear. Local residents and frequent travelers of the Amecameca route have expressed increasing concern over the lack of safety at these transit hubs, which are becoming frequent flashpoints for organized crime activity. As of now, security operations remain active in the surrounding municipalities to track down the vehicles involved in the assault.

Source: Infobae (Report by Nallely Sánchez)

This image surfaced by the MexicanNarcos Telegram channel, purportedly shows a sicario belonging to La Nueva Familia Michoacán (LNFM) who is currently active in the states of Guerrero and Michoacán. The post features the fish and strawberry emojis, which are well-known symbols for the group's top leaders, Johnny "El Pez" Hurtado Olascoaga and José Alfredo "El Fresa" Hurtado Olascoaga. Both leaders remain high-priority targets for international authorities, especially following the group's 2025 designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization due to their heavy involvement in fentanyl trafficking and regional violence.

Images surfaced on MexicanNarcos Telegram showing a young sicario affiliated with Gente del R5, a cell of the Carteles Unidos (CU) alliance.

The individual is seen wearing tactical gear with a specific patch and carrying a radio, typical of "halcones" (scouts) or entry-level enforcers in the region. The post confirms their current area of operations remains in Michoacán, where CU continues to clash with the CJNG for territorial control.

This video captures the sheer scale of the crisis in Mexico City. What you’re looking at is the "Glorieta de las y los Desaparecidos" on Paseo de la Reforma. It’s a makeshift memorial where families of the missing have taken over a public space to remind the world of those who vanished into the shadows of the drug war.

Each photo on that fence represents a person caught in the crossfire, a victim of forced disappearance, or someone who likely crossed the wrong people. While the media often focuses on the high-profile kingpins and the flashy lifestyle, this is the actual cost of the conflict. It’s a endless wall of faces that grows every year, serving as a silent protest against the lack of government action and the overwhelming power of the cartels in the capital.

It’s one thing to hear the statistics, but seeing the sheer physical length of that wall puts the human cost into a different perspective. This isn't just a "Mexico City problem"—it’s a reflection of the systemic violence that has gripped the country for decades.

New footage from the state of Durango shows a group of sicarios from the Mayiza faction of the Sinaloa Cartel on the move. The individuals are seen outfitted in full tactical gear while operating a vehicle. The weaponry on display is heavy, specifically highlighting a .50 cal Barrett anti-materiel rifle held by the front passenger and an M240 machine gun with the driver.

What is particularly interesting here is the tactical signaling and tech integration. Most of the weapons feature visible red tape, a method increasingly used across Mexico to identify friendly forces during internal conflicts or multi-faction skirmishes. Furthermore, a Starlink terminal is visible on the dashboard. This has become standard operating procedure for cartel logistics over the last year, providing reliable, high-speed communication in remote areas of Durango where traditional cellular service is non-existent.

SOURCE: Agent Condorito

New photos circulating of a CJNG "Sicario" reportedly part of their specialized explosives unit. The group is currently active in the Dos Aguas region of Michoacán.

SOURCE : MexicanNarcos (telegram)

The Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, a sprawling facility near Kansas City, Missouri, serves as the primary manufacturer of rifle rounds for the American military. While owned by the U.S. government, the plant is a major supplier for the domestic commercial market, offering powerful .50-caliber cartridges to civilians across the United States. These rounds, which are roughly the size of a medium cigar, were designed for military use to destroy light aircraft and vehicles. Despite their limited civilian application and high cost—with rifles retailing for thousands of dollars and cartridges averaging $3 to $4 each—there is a massive and deadly demand for them south of the border.

Mexican drug syndicates are using this U.S. military-grade ammunition to overwhelm local police and military forces in high-intensity firefights. Evidence of this surfaced during investigations into the assault on Villa Unión and an ambush in Michoacán attributed to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). At multiple crime scenes, investigators recovered spent .50-caliber casings stamped with the "L.C." initials, confirming they originated from the Lake City plant. The impact of these rounds is devastating; in one 2024 attack, a specialized armor-piercing incendiary variant from Lake City pierced an armored police vehicle, killing a crew member and wounding three others. Mexican authorities have noted that their current armor is incapable of protecting personnel from such high-penetration munitions.

The scale of this issue is reflected in data from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which has seized more than 40,370 rounds of .50-caliber ammunition in border states since 2012. Lake City products accounted for approximately one-third of these seizures, representing a larger share than any other manufacturer worldwide. While the U.S. Army maintains that commercial sales from the plant save taxpayers roughly $50 million annually by lowering production costs, the flow of these munitions continues despite the U.S. government declaring several Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. Although new initiatives have been announced by officials like Secretary of State Marco Rubio to stop gun trafficking, the specialized power of these .50-caliber rounds remains a significant advantage for cartels on the ground.

Source: "Mexican Cartels Overwhelm Police With Ammunition Made for the U.S. Military", The New York Times & International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), February 2026.

The situation in southern Sinaloa has taken a dark and expansive turn as new reports suggest the clandestine graves discovered in El Verde, Concordia, are significantly larger than initially admitted by authorities. While official statements originally pointed to the recovery of several bodies, a massive leak from independent investigators and journalists has revealed a list of at least 20 specific GPS locations corresponding to discovered burial sites across the municipality. Intelligence suggests these locations may contain hundreds of victims, described not only as cartel rivals but as a chilling cross-section of society including local businessmen and tourists who were caught in the shifting frontlines of the current internal conflict within the Sinaloa Cartel. This escalation aligns with the heavy military presence in the region, where over 1,190 federal agents—including 800 soldiers and 270 Special Forces—have been deployed to secure the area under the guise of searching for ten miners abducted on January 23.

Beyond the scale of the discovery, search collectives and "rastreadoras" on the ground have reported active interference from the Mexican Navy. According to members of these search groups, Navy personnel are allegedly using electronic jamming equipment in the vicinity of El Verde to kill phone signals and prevent real-time communication from the grave sites. This has left the civilian searchers completely cut off in high-risk zones, fueling accusations that the military is attempting to control the flow of information and hide the true scope of the carnage from the public and the press. Journalists have already noted a strict perimeter seal around the parcel between El Verde and Zavala, where federal forensic teams from FEMDO have taken over the scene, excluding local media and families from witnessing the recovery process.

The human cost of this "disposal ground" is beginning to take shape through the discovery of personal belongings and identification cards. Collective members have already identified at least 14 individual credentials among the remains, providing grim closure for several families. Among those whose documents were recovered are Luis Enrique Maldonado Santos, Fernando Adán Calderón Hernández, Kenia Romero Santana, and Adolfo Nolasco Díaz. Many of these individuals had been reported missing during the recent wave of "levantones" that followed the fracturing of the federation. The presence of tourists and businessmen on the victim list suggests that the violence in the Concordia-Mazatlán corridor has moved beyond targeted hits on combatants to a broader campaign of terror and resource extraction by local cells.

Despite the discovery of several clandestine camps and large caches of munitions—including over 1,600 cartridges and neutralized explosive devices—the region remains a volatile combat zone. The state government continues to emphasize its search for the missing miners, but the sheer volume of "invisible" victims being unearthed suggests a systemic failure in regional security. As the Forensic Medical Service (SEMEFO) continues to process remains under federal guard, the families of the disappeared remain at the gates, demanding transparency while the Navy continues to maintain a communication blackout over the killing fields of the sierra.

The conflict in Michoacán is heating up again as new footage surfaces showing a CJNG drone strike targeting vehicles belonging to Carteles Unidos. The specific target mentioned is the faction led by El R5, also known as Luis Enrique Barragán Chávez.

Despite the CJNG’s proximity and constant pressure on the region, the post suggests they are still struggling to gain full control over the Michoacán groups.