SUMMARY

The Sinaloa Cartel – El Pepillo faction is a splinter group that was formed in January 2015. The group originates from the Sinaloa Cartel and have been active in the Baja California Sur state in Mexico. The Sinaloa Cartel experienced some turmoil after the imprisonment of its leader, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, in February 2014. Guzman’s close associate Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada became the acting leader over the cartel, which was not popular with everyone within the Sinaloa Cartel. Dámaso López Núñez "El Licenciado", another high ranking leader, together with Dámaso López Serrano "El Mini Lic", challenged Zambada for the control over the cartel’s operations in La Paz, Baja California Sur, beginning in July 2014.

The leader of what later became the Sinaloa Cartel – El Pepillo faction, Jose Fernando Torres Montenegro or Jose Francisco Ojeda Torres, also called “El Pepillo”, with the responsibility of the drug trafficking in the South Zone of La Paz, initially supported Damaso in his struggle to overtake the “plaza” of Baja California Sur. However, after a targeted killing gone wrong on 18 January 2015, where a father was killed rather than his sons, “El Pepillo” and his supporters broke away from Damaso.

The Sinaloa Cartel – El Pepillo faction has been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence.