Decapitating cartels? Mexico leans into ‘kingpin strategy’ but at a cost

Activists at Sabuesos Guerreras, a collective searching for missing people in Culiacan, Sinaloa, have noticed a rise in disappearances following the arrest of cartel leader Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada in Texas. A power struggle within the Sinaloa Cartel led to a surge in murders, femicides and missing-person reports, with homicides in Sinaloa increasing from 44 in August to 142 in September. The number of disappearances is estimated to be around 5,800 since July 2024.