Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Thursday, September 19 that the United States shared blame for bloody cartel infighting that erupted in the country after Washington arrested a narco kingpin.
The northwestern state of Sinaloa has been wracked by violence following the dramatic July arrest of Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who claimed he was kidnapped in Mexico and delivered into US custody against his will.
Zambada, 76, was detained along with Joaquin Guzman Lopez, a son of El Chapo, who is serving a life sentence in the United States.
The violence is believed to pit gang members loyal to El Chapo and his sons against others aligned with Zambada, who pleaded not guilty to a raft of charges in a New York court last Friday.
Bodies have been abandoned in the streets and residents left terrified as gunfire, abductions, arson and armed clashes have left more than 40 dead in less than two weeks.
López Obrador said the United States bore some of the responsibility “for having carried out that operation” to arrest Zambada.
Zambada was arrested on US soil but said he was taken there against his will. Washington denies having planned his capture.
López Obrador said the arrest “produced the confrontation that is taking place in Sinaloa.”