Fear, death and hope in a city under the shadows of a Mexican cartel war

Dec 24, 2025 - 15:00
Fear, death and hope in a city under the shadows of a Mexican cartel war
Three police officers walk up a driveway with caution tape strung across the entrance.

Fear and violence permeate Culiacán, Sinaloa, and its surrounding area in northwestern Mexico. The sun-seared state capital, with a population of a little more than one million, is also known as the cradle of the Sinaloa cartel, one of the most powerful organized crime groups in the world, which has fallen into a vicious civil war.