SUMMARY

The Sinaloa Cartel - Los Chapitos was one of the two leading factions within the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel. The faction was called “Chapitos” due to it being led by four sons of Joaquin Guzmán Loera “El Chapo”; Joaquín Guzmán López, Ovidio Guzmán López, Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar. Their leading role within the Sinaloa cartel began with the arrest of the infamous boss of the Sinaloa Cartel, El Chapo Guzmán, in January 2016. Following this arrest, the established hierarchy within the Sinaloa cartel was greatly disturbed, leading to a power struggle between El Chapo Guzmán’s sons and other high-ranking cartel members such as “El Mayo” Zambada and Damaso Lopez Nuñez “El Licenciado”. The main business of the Chapitos faction was drug trafficking.

As a faction of the larger Sinaloa Cartel the Chapitos faction shared the same external enemies and allies as the Sinaloa cartel at large. The Chapitos faction’s allies were made up of smaller factions within the Sinaloa Cartel, the most prominent of which was the faction known as Los Salazars.

Confirmed strongholds and areas of operations for the Chapitos faction were the Mexican states of Sinaloa, Baja California and Sonora.

The Sinaloa Cartel – Los Chapitos has been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organized violence.