{"id":143754,"date":"2025-05-30T09:35:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T09:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/143754\/"},"modified":"2025-05-30T09:35:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T09:35:15","slug":"moises-barnabe-barraza-acosta-mexico-and-the-united-states-decimate-los-chapitos-international","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/143754\/","title":{"rendered":"Mois\u00e9s Barnab\u00e9 Barraza Acosta: Mexico and the United States decimate Los Chapitos | International"},"content":{"rendered":"

Los Chapitos<\/a> have become an endangered species. Only a few of their top bosses \u2014 the very ones immortalized in corridos for a few pesos or whose initials adorn caps sold on the streets of Culiac\u00e1n \u2014 are still standing. Imprisoned, killed, extradited to the U.S., or voluntarily surrendered to U.S. authorities as part of plea deals to reduce sentences, the Sinaloa Cartel faction<\/a> is rapidly vanishing. <\/p>\n

Only two leaders \u2014 Iv\u00e1n Archivaldo Guzm\u00e1n and his brother Jes\u00fas Alfredo \u2014 remain at large. But they are increasingly cornered by Mexico\u2019s security forces, who take daily pride in announcing new arrests and deaths of the traffickers whom Washington has identified as key figures behind the fentanyl crisis.<\/p>\n

\"SecuritySecurity personnel with Mois\u00e9s Barnab\u00e9 Barraza, alias ‘Berna’, No\u00e9 Moreno Montes, alias ‘Pinpon’, Jes\u00fas Iv\u00e1n Robles Meraz, and Luis Antonio Ibarra Payan, members of Los Chapitos this Thursday in Sinaloa.SSPC<\/p>\n

The latest high-profile figure to fall within Los Chapitos is Mois\u00e9s Barnab\u00e9 Barraza Acosta, aka Berna or Chup\u00f3n, described by authorities on Thursday as the \u201cleader of the criminal cell dedicated to contract killings and drug trafficking.\u201d <\/p>\n

Alongside the 31-year-old, a joint security forces operation in Culiac\u00e1n also arrested three other criminals: Noe Moreno Montes, aka Pinpon, 27; Jes\u00fas Iv\u00e1n Robles Meraz, 29; and Luis Antonio Ibarra Payan, 31. They were found heavily armed \u2014 though perhaps less so than one might expect from the leader of a hit squad \u2014 with \u201cfour long guns, 18 magazines, tire spikes, four bulletproof vests, and a stolen vehicle equipped with compartments for tire spikes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Los Chapitos \u2014 named so because their leaders are the sons of Joaqu\u00edn \u201cEl Chapo\u201d Guzm\u00e1n<\/a>, the world\u2019s most powerful drug trafficker until his third capture and extradition to the United States, where he is serving a life sentence \u2014 gained strength precisely after El Chapo\u2019s fall. For Washington, they became one of the faces responsible for flooding U.S. streets with fentanyl. The White House declared war on them. In 2023, the State Department filed charges against 28 cartel members, and the prosecution sought life sentences without parole for their three leaders: Iv\u00e1n Archivaldo, Jes\u00fas Alfredo Guzm\u00e1n Salazar, and Ovidio Guzm\u00e1n L\u00f3pez.<\/p>\n

Months earlier, in January of that year, Ovidio \u2014 known as \u201cEl Rat\u00f3n\u201d \u2014 was captured in Culiac\u00e1n during a difficult operation that his men responded to with gunfire and burning cars throughout the city. It was the second time authorities had tried to apprehend him, following the 2019 event known as Culiacanazo<\/a>, when, after Ovidio was already in custody, then-Mexican president Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador was forced to order his release because his followers threatened to raze the city. After his final arrest and the ensuing U.S. legal battle, the cartel\u2019s fate was sealed.<\/p>\n

El Rat\u00f3n was extradited to the United States in September 2023. And negotiations with the U.S. justice system began. The following summer, an unexpected move tipped the fragile balance of the Sinaloa criminal world. One of his brothers, Joaqu\u00edn Guzm\u00e1n L\u00f3pez, kidnapped Ismael \u201cEl Mayo\u201d Zambada<\/a>, the historic capo of the Sinaloa Cartel, former partner of El Chapo, and the only one of his generation who had never been imprisoned. <\/a><\/p>\n

Guzm\u00e1n L\u00f3pez forced him onto a plane against his will, and both surrendered to U.S. authorities at a small airport near El Paso. El Mayo denounced the kidnapping through his lawyer, citing a violation of Mexican national sovereignty, played his cards, and is now negotiating a plea deal with U.S. prosecutors. All signs suggest that Guzm\u00e1n L\u00f3pez is also negotiating with the U.S. Department of Justice, which has already confirmed that it will not seek the death penalty<\/a> against him.<\/p>\n

\"OvidioOvidio Guzman is extradited to the United States in 2023.Cortes\u00eda<\/p>\n

The betrayal of El Mayo unleashed a war between his loyalists, known as La Mayiza, and Los Chapitos. Since the dispute erupted on September 9, Sinaloa has recorded 1,369 murders and just as many arrests, according to the daily tally by the newspaper Noroeste, a key source for coverage of violence in the state. <\/p>\n

In October, Claudia Sheinbaum took office as Mexico\u2019s president and dramatically shifted the security strategy of her predecessor, L\u00f3pez Obrador. With Omar Garc\u00eda-Harfuch, her security czar, leading the efforts \u2014 and under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump \u2014 high-profile arrests and seizures have surged in Sinaloa, particularly targeting Los Chapitos, which is now on the brink following months of attacks.<\/p>\n

El Chapo\u2019s sons are well aware of their decline. Earlier this month, Ovidio Guzm\u00e1n reached a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice to plead guilty to drug trafficking in exchange for providing information to the authorities. The details of the negotiation remain unclear, but just days later, 17 relatives of El Rat\u00f3n crossed the border<\/a> into California, including Griselda Guadalupe L\u00f3pez, his mother, El Chapo\u2019s ex-wife, and once one of the Sinaloa Cartel\u2019s main operatives. The news unsettled the Mexican government, just as the kidnapping of El Mayo had done months earlier.<\/p>\n

The capture of Mois\u00e9s Barnab\u00e9 Berna is just the latest chapter in a series of arrests that have raised suspicions for targeting Los Chapitos disproportionately. According to EL PA\u00cdS\u2019s tally based on official figures, by the end of May, the Security Ministry had reported the arrest of 72 Chapitos compared to 23 Mayitos \u2014 a count that does not include those killed. <\/p>\n

On the same day as Berna\u2019s arrest, another high-profile capture took place in Sinaloa. In Los Mochis, an operation apprehended Juan Pablo \u201cEl Payo\u201d Bastidas Erenas, a high-ranking member of the Beltr\u00e1n Leyva cartel, who was working for Oscar \u201cEl M\u00fasico\u201d Manuel Gast\u00e9lum, and Fausto \u201cEl Chapo Isidro\u201d Isidro Meza. The Beltr\u00e1n Leyva cartel was powerful years ago, but now survives amid fragile alliances and betrayals. <\/p>\n

Last weekend, Garc\u00eda Harfuch announced the death of Jorge Humberto Figueroa, aka El Perris, one of Los Chapitos\u2019 top field operators, head of security, and a key figure behind the Culiacanazo \u2014 calling it \u201cpart of the strategy to build peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

The recent capture of Berna underscores Los Chapitos\u2019 downward spiral, as their ranks continue to shrink and they become increasingly trapped. If their leader, Iv\u00e1n Archivaldo Guzm\u00e1n, has avoided the same fate, it\u2019s because he narrowly escaped the authorities through a tunnel \u2014 just as his father did years earlier, according to an investigation by The Wall Street Journal. What remains of Los Chapitos is desperately trying to survive through alleged alliances with old enemies like the Jalisco New Generation Cartel<\/a>. Anything to avoid extinction.<\/p>\n

Sign up for our weekly newsletter<\/a> to get more English-language news coverage from EL PA\u00cdS USA Edition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Los Chapitos have become an endangered species. Only a few of their top bosses \u2014 the very ones…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":143755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[62063,42486,32,62067,62066,62064,62062,2132,62068,62065,62061,49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-143754","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-chapo-guzman","9":"tag-claudia-sheinbaum","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-ismael-el-mayo-zambada","12":"tag-ivan-archivaldo-guzman","13":"tag-joaquin-guzman-lopez","14":"tag-los-chapitos","15":"tag-mexico","16":"tag-omar-garcia-harfuch","17":"tag-ovidio-guzman-lopez","18":"tag-sinaloa","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114596106969585334","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}