Following the Narrative: The Battle for Caborca - Quick intro to the insurgency in Caborca, Mexico

For about a year or so, news outlets have been reporting massive narco related violence in Caborca, Mexico. According to the major outlets covering this area, the uptick in violence is due to a Narco War between two organized criminal groups and their allies. At the heart of the confrontation it boils down to “Los Chapitos” vs Rafael Caro Quintero.

The way the narrative goes, Rafael Caro Quintero, who was “erroneously” freed from prison, set out to reclaim some of his old territory. With support of some family members that were still in the game and a group called Barredora 24/7, Caro Quintero formed the Caborca Cartel to control the Caborca “Plaza”. The group specializes in Narco trafficking, extortion, kidnappings, etc.

Now the issue is that a group called Gente Nueva Altar is also claiming the Caborca Plaza and its lucrative drug routes. The Gente Nueva group belongs to El Chapo’s rich criminal children, the “Chapitos”. Now since two groups can't seem to be able to share an area like Caborca, a vicious war started that has left many dead including high ranking cartel members.

What we’ve seen so far in the conflict:
Targeted assassinations
Targeted assasination attempts
Topones (field battles)
Kidnappings
Torture
Disappearances
Propaganda from both sides
Killings of police or military members with the wrong alliances
Narco Mantas
Chopped up body pieces left on roads
People burned alive
Houses, businesses, and ranches burned down

One of the leaders of the Gente Nueva group (El Durango) even goes live on facebook informing the public of things and answering questions. Or goes live on instagram while patrolling an area asking people if they’ve seen members of the Barredora 24/7. Most notably he answered questions on live after it was falsely reported that he was killed in a car bombing plot.

The latest big news coming from the media is that the Caborca Cartel has allied itself with Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion in order to fight against El Chapo’s kids and retain the Caborca plaza. This is pretty big news because CJNG is allegedly the one of the strongest cartels in Mexico and is known for its extreme violence.

What’s really happening in Caborca? Not a clue. But the violence seems to have no end in sight.