Mexico’s government is remaining silent about the details surrounding the kidnapping and subsequent release of a politically connected jeweler in the cartel-controlled state of Sinaloa.
The incident took place this week in Culiacan, when a group of gunmen abducted 49-year-old Luis Mario Zuniga, the owner of a chain of jewelry stores in the region. Zuniga has Mexican and U.S. citizenship. According to local news outlets, the businessman spent approximately 48 hours in captivity and was subsequently released unharmed.
However, during that time, federal and state authorities carried out a large-scale operation to locate and rescue the businessman. The move drew outrage locally since the state of Sinaloa has seen a dramatic rise in violence, shootouts, murders, and kidnappings, with most of those cases not receiving a similar response.
As Breitbart Texas has reported, the violence in Sinaloa is largely attributed to a raging turf war between rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel, known as Los Chapitos and Los Mayos. Social media posts shared by various news outlets in Mexico revealed that Zuniga’s jewelry, LM Ramos, had posted pictures of a custom-made mouse pendant.
As Breitbart Texas reported, El Raton, or the mouse, is the nickname used by Ovidio Guzman, one of the leaders of Los Chapitos, who gained much popularity after his first capture when then-Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador ordered his release, forcing the country’s military forces to take a virtual knee to the cartels, claiming that he was trying to avoid violence. Eventually, security forces arrested El Raton and shipped him to the United States, where he is facing numerous drug trafficking charges.
Unconfirmed reports from Mexican pundits and news outlets like Infobae.com suggest Zuniga is related to Claudia Sheinbaum’s husband.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
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