MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Authorities in Mexico’s Sinaloa state said on Sunday that at least 14 people were killed the day before amid a wave of violence that erupted after drug trafficker Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada’s arrest in the United States.
Most of the killings on Saturday were in Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state, the state attorney general’s office said.
The prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Sunday that it had opened 10 investigations into the homicides of 14 people.
In recent months, fighting in Culiacan between criminal groups battling for territorial control has disrupted daily life and forced businesses and schools to close.
Violence has flared in the Pacific coast state since the late July arrest of Sinaloa cartel leader Zambada, after he was flown to an airstrip in Texas and promptly taken into custody by U.S. officials.
Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has deployed hundreds of military personnel with armored trucks and high-powered weapons to Sinaloa to try to contain the violence, but the clashes continue.
Authorities reported on Saturday that coolers with human remains, including a head, were found in parts of Sinaloa with emblems alluding to the disputing gangs.
On Tuesday, a shootout on the outskirts of Culiacan killed 19 suspected gang members, while one local cartel leader was arrested.
At least 172 people were killed and more than 200 others reported missing between September 9, when authorities say the wave of violence began, and October 18.
(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; editing by Diane Craft)
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