CULIACÁN, Sinaloa, Sept. 14, 2026 — An estimated 30,000 people marched through Culiacán on Sunday, demanding security and peace after two years of violence tied to a split within the Sinaloa Cartel.
Participants walked along Avenida Álvaro Obregón from La Lomita in Colonia Guadalupe to the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in central Culiacán.
More than 30 civil, business and religious organizations called the march. Families of missing and murdered residents joined business owners, farmers, teachers and other residents.
Travel context for Puerto Vallarta readers
The demonstration took place in Sinaloa and did not change security guidance for Puerto Vallarta or Jalisco.
The current U.S. travel advisory for Sinaloa remains at Level 4, “Do not travel.” It permits U.S. government employees to enter limited areas of Mazatlán by air or sea. Culiacán remains outside the permitted areas.
The same advisory places Jalisco at Level 3 but lists no travel restrictions for Puerto Vallarta or neighboring Riviera Nayarit. PVDN has previously examined the state-by-state differences in the federal guidance.
Canadian travel guidance also advises against nonessential travel to most of Sinaloa. It warns that clashes occur in Culiacán and outside Mazatlán’s main tourist areas.
That guidance also warns foreign nationals against joining political activity in Mexico, including demonstrations. It says participation can result in detention, deportation or denial of future entry.
Daily losses brought residents into the streets
People carried photographs of missing relatives and signs calling for safe streets, justice and protection for children.
The family of Juan Alejandro, a 16-month-old boy killed Sept. 5, joined the march. Gunmen attacked a home in the Prados del Sur neighborhood while the child was inside, according to reporting from the demonstration.
Search collectives also participated. Among them was Rosa Lydia, whose son, Jesús Tomás, disappeared in 2024. His family still has not learned what happened to him, according to the same account.
A review of the two-year security crisis reported that state prosecutors had recognized 3,181 killings. Security sources placed the total at about 3,800.
The report also cited more than 4,400 disappearances and 12,257 stolen vehicles during the period. The figures cover crimes recorded during the crisis and do not establish a cartel connection in every case.
Coparmex Sinaloa estimated that more than 5,000 businesses had closed. Mexican Social Security Institute figures showed 559,594 insured workers in Sinaloa in August, down 19,411 from a year earlier.
PVDN reported in June 2025 that the factional fighting had also forced more than 3,000 people from their communities.
Church and civic groups lead the march
The day began with a 7 a.m. outdoor Mass near La Lomita. The march started shortly after 8 a.m.
Jesús José Herrera Quiñónez, bishop of the Diocese of Culiacán, had asked parishes to suspend their regular morning Masses so congregants could participate.
Herrera called for forgiveness without abandoning justice. Addressing the armed groups, he said, “No power, money, territory or ambition is worth more than a human life.”
The bishop also called for honest institutions capable of restoring public trust.
Coparmex Sinaloa President Martha Reyes Zazueta said organizers intended the march to support life, peace and the recovery of public spaces.
Organizers presented the event as nonpartisan. However, politicians from the PRI, Movimiento Ciudadano and Morena attended. Some demonstrators carried anti-Morena signs, while others burned piñatas representing public officials.
State government responds to public demands
Interim Gov. Graciela Domínguez Nava said she shared residents’ demand for peace. She said her administration was working on a broader plan to recover streets and restore security.
Domínguez described the organization of residents as valuable and called for cooperation between citizens, institutions and government.
The statements followed a meeting between the governor and Herrera before the march, according to coverage of the state’s response.
Two years of factional conflict
The current crisis followed the July 25, 2024, arrests of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García and Joaquín Guzmán López near El Paso, Texas. The U.S. Justice Department announced both arrests that day.
Sinaloa authorities identify Sept. 9, 2024, as the start of sustained fighting between two factions of the same criminal organization. The conflict has been widely identified as a dispute between Los Chapitos and the faction aligned with Zambada.
An official state account from September 2024 described the fighting as a conflict between two factions and documented anti-roadblock deployments along the Culiacán-Mazatlán toll highway.
PVDN has also examined how the Huertos del Pedregal ranch outside Culiacán became linked to the cartel’s fracture and the political fallout surrounding Zambada’s removal from Mexico.
