- Samuel Ibarra and six men were found shot to death on a road along Mexico’s border with Arizona on Tuesday
- Ibarra and his men were killed as part of an ongoing internal conflict in the Sinaloa Cartel. He worked for El Chapo’s sons
- In a separate incident, five dead bodies were found in the western state of Michoacán on Tuesday
A senior leader of the Sinaloa cartel and six other men were killed and then dumped on a road near Mexico’s border with Arizona, the government said Wednesday.
The killings were just some of the deaths along the border in recent days, with another five people killed and left in an abandoned SUV in another part of Mexico.
Sinaloa Cartel leader Samuel Ibarra, 48, and his accomplices, linked to the sons of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, were shot dead during a shootout in San Luis Río Colorado, a municipality in Sonora state.
The gunfight took place after Los Rusos, affiliated with the Sinaloa cartel division led by co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, led a convoy of armed fighters into the city on Monday.
Surveillance video cameras captured the moment an SUV and a pickup truck carrying Los Rusos gunmen arrived to track down Ibarra.
The bloodshed continued along the Mexican border, with five people found dead in an SUV. In another part of the country, Sinaloa Cartel leader Samuel Ibarra and his accomplices were shot
Samuel Ibarra, who oversaw a Sinaloa Cartel drug compound controlled by El Chapo’s sons in the northwestern city of San Luis Río Colorado, was killed in a shootout on Tuesday
Images of Ibarra lying dead on the road were circulated on social media on Tuesday before the Sonora Public Prosecution Service confirmed his death on Wednesday.
Ibarra was dressed in military gear and was carrying a walkie-talkie and gun ammunition.
“The deceased, all men, were injured by gunfire and were wearing tactical clothing and shoes,” the Sonora attorney general’s office said in a statement.
Sonora Attorney General Franciso Méndez said at least 12 people were arrested and seven vehicles were seized as part of the investigation.
According to Mexican media reports, Ibarra oversaw a Sinaloa Cartel drug compound in San Luis Río Colorado, which is controlled by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s sons known as Los Chapitos.
Ibarra and his son, JesúsSa Ibarra, who was captured by authorities in July 2023, operated out of Mexicali, Baja California, until 2021, when they declined to join forces with Los Rusos after Zambada took control of Mexicali.
The dead bodies of five people were found Tuesday in a bulletproof SUV in Michoacán
Ibarra and his son fled to San Luis Río Colorado and joined Los Chapitos, which gave them the responsibility of overseeing the drug trafficking route through the Gulf of Santa Clara.
In an isolated incident, Mexican authorities in the western state of Michoacán found five dead bodies in a bulletproof SUV.
The vehicle was abandoned on the side of a road in Villa de Corona, in the south of Guadalajara, the state capital.
The Michoacán Attorney General’s Office made the discovery after someone called 911 to report the vehicle on Tuesday. The five bodies showed “visible signs of violence.”