Sheinbaum’s has been military-first. Over 14k troops deployed. Sinaloa now has one soldier per 228 residents. The national average is 1 per 707. Convoys of military vehicles are a regular sight. They’ve helped stop open clashes and blockades—but targeted killings and mass executions haven’t ceased.

Sinaloa is going through its deadliest era in recent history. From Aug 2024 to July 2025, there were 1,763 official homicides and 1,931 people disappeared. A forensic worker told me these numbers might be an undercount. An additional 111 suspects were killed by federal forces

Today marks a year since the Sinaloa Cartel’s two largest factions, Chapitos and Mayos, fell into a deadly wave of infighting after the former kidnapped and rendered “El Mayo” Zambada to U.S. authorities. I visited the state recently for @crisisgroup.org and this is some of what I saw.