One morning in September 2024, Ana Rosa Sánchez* arrived early to begin her morning routine at a seafood restaurant in Altata, a small fishing village in the Pacific coast state of Sinaloa. But as she awaited her first clients, her phone started buzzing. Culiacán had erupted into chaos with reports of gunfights, killings, and arson attacks.

Without thinking twice, Sánchez closed the metal doors to the restaurant and locked them shut. She wouldn’t open them again for four months.

Altata is located just about 40 minutes west of Culiacán, the capital city of Sinaloa. For years it has been a favorite destination for locals to spend a weekend enjoying the beach, eating fresh seafood, and listening to the state’s famous banda style of music.

But that sense of calm vanished starting on September 9, 2024, the date that many in Sinaloa have marked as the unofficial beginning of the internal war between the Chapitos and Mayiza, the two most powerful factions of the Sinaloa Cartel.

As Sinaloa Cartel War Rages On, An Economy Bleeds Dry in Culiacán, Mexico | Written by Victoria Dittmar and Parker Asmann, and read by Parker Asmann. Part of our Special Series: The Sinaloa Cartel’s Internal War.

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