Cartel Watch: Chapitos Plaza Boss Captured as the Sinaloa War Deepens
A senior Los Chapitos plaza boss is captured in Mazatlán, a state police commander is assassinated in Culiacán, and a CJNG cocaine tunnel is rolled up under San Diego.
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Window: Friday, May 29 to Friday, June 5, 2026 Open Source Intelligence Summary · Public Distribution
BLUF
The Sinaloa internal war and a sustained Mexican-government campaign against Los Chapitos drove the week. A senior Chapitos plaza boss in southern Sinaloa was captured days after publicly refusing to defect to La Mayiza, a Sinaloa state police commander was assassinated in Culiacán, and a roughly 2,000-foot CJNG cocaine tunnel feeding a fake storefront was rolled up in San Diego.
Key Judgments
Highly Likely: The arrests of Gabriel “Gabito” Martínez Larios and, the prior week, El Chapo’s nephew in Nogales reflect a deliberate campaign against Los Chapitos plaza leadership rather than isolated captures.
Likely: Removing Gabito days after his defiant banner strengthens La Mayiza’s position in the southern Sinaloa corridor between Mazatlán and El Rosario.
Possible: The Culiacán assassination of a state police commander is tied to the faction war and signals continued targeting of security officials in the plaza.
Possible: U.S.-person exposure in Baja California Sur tourist zones will recur, given the American killed in the Los Cabos shootout.
Cartel Watch (Mexico)
Cártel de Sinaloa
Los Chapitos, Mazatlán, Sinaloa: Southern-Region Plaza Boss Captured
Sinaloa State Public Security agents arrested Gabriel Nicolás Martínez Larios, alias “Gabito” or “El 80,” a high-ranking Los Chapitos officer, on the night of Monday, June 1, in the Real del Valle complex in Mazatlán. Reporting and several narco messages identify him as the alleged Los Chapitos leader for southern Sinaloa, and tie him to the January 2026 kidnapping and killing of ten silver-mine workers in Concordia, Sinaloa. A week before the arrest, a narco banner signed by Gabito and left with two dismembered bodies in El Rosario claimed his faction had rejected an offer from La Mayiza to switch sides. He was in custody within days.Sources: Luz Noticias, El Financiero
I've Done Too Much to Be Forgiven by God: Here's the Truth
Culiacán, Sinaloa: State Police Commander Assassinated
Juan Pedro Arámburo García, commander of the Sinaloa State Preventive Police, was shot and killed on the morning of Saturday, May 31, in the 10 de Mayo neighborhood of Culiacán. Witnesses said he was driving a white Nissan Versa in southern Culiacán when one vehicle blocked his path and a second pulled up, and gunmen opened fire before fleeing. Culiacán remains the recurring flashpoint of the war between Los Chapitos and La Mayiza. Officer-safety relevant. Source: Riodoce.
Los Cabos, Baja California Sur: Tourist-Zone Shootout, American Killed, Three Gunmen Down in Follow-Up
A firefight between gunmen and the Mexican military in Santa Anita, north of San José del Cabo, left two soldiers and five bystanders wounded, with two of the wounded later dying, one of them an American citizen from California. Two nights later, one of three coordinated raids in San José del Cabo hit a safe house in Colonia Ballenas, killing three gunmen and arresting a fourth. That raid yielded 12 rifles, 23 magazines, a Colt 40mm grenade launcher, 13 tactical vests and plate carriers, and three vehicles; the other operations turned up additional rifles, dozens of plate carriers and ballistic plates, radios, and a money counter. The reporting did not establish the responsible organization by name. Sources: 624 Noticias, Vanguardia, Heraldo de México, Zeta Tijuana
Veracruz: Armed Commando Kidnaps Journalist on Video
A security-camera video shows armed men forcing their way into the home of journalist Roxana Guzmán, local director of the news page Pulso Informativo del Sureste, during the early morning and taking her away. The State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) said it has opened a search and investigation; no motive or suspects have been released. No organization has been tied to the abduction. Mexico remains among the most dangerous countries for journalists, with reporters frequently targeted by organized crime. Sources: Latinus, @lulu_reportera (X)
Governance and Cartel-Politics Nexus
Chihuahua: FGR Presses Governor Maru Campos
The FGR is pursuing Chihuahua Governor Maru Campos after she declined to testify regarding the case involving CIA personnel killed in the state, and Morena is moving in the Chamber of Deputies to strip her immunity.
Source: La Polaka
Domestic Nexus (US)
San Diego, CA (HSI, U.S. Attorney’s Office SDCA): CJNG Cross-Border Tunnel, Over a Ton of Cocaine
Federal authorities announced charges against four people in connection with a roughly 2,000-foot tunnel running from Tijuana into Otay Mesa, ending inside a fake discount store called Buy 4 Less. HSI’s Tunnel Task Force surveilled the warehouse from December 2025 to May 2026, noting minimal customer traffic and empty suitcases being walked back across the nearby crossing into Mexico. Those charged are Gregorio Epifanio Hernandez Lopez, 29, of San Diego; Jose Jimenez, 32, of San Diego; Antonio Cortez, 18, of Mexico; and Brandon Escalante Sandoval, 26, of Mexico. The tunnel is attributed to CJNG; over one ton of cocaine was seized. Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of California (press release)
Seizures and Prosecutions
Villa de Cos, Zacatecas (FGR, SEDENA): 650+ kg Seizure on Federal Highway 54
The FGR charged a suspect, Sergio “N,” after his arrest on the Zacatecas to Saltillo stretch of Federal Highway 54 near Sierra Vieja, aboard a cargo vehicle. Seized: about 651 kg of marijuana, roughly 1 kg of methamphetamine, a phone, and the vehicle; a judge ordered preventive detention. DTO attribution not established in the FGR release. Source: NTR Zacateca
PLATES FOR LESS THAN $400 AND IT’S AMERICAN MADE!
TTPs and Technology
Tijuana, Baja California: Narco Banner Accuses State Police of Stealing 180 kg of Cocaine
A narco banner in Tijuana threatened state police officers, accusing them of having sheltered the people who stole 180 kilograms of cocaine, and named several individuals it threatened to execute. The same banner told Grupo Firme vocalist Eduin Caz to stick to music and stop defending one of the named men. As with any narco banner, the message is an unverified claim. Source: Proceso
That’s a mouthful in a short amount of time. Thanks for the piece definitely sharing.
Feel like they’re barely scratching the surface. That Houston oil company tied to the cartel is bananas out in the open.
Excellent report, Keith. Anything new on the CJNG fall-out? Have they rallied around new leadership?