A shooting at a restaurant in Mexico City's Zona Rosa on December 21, 2025, left one man dead and another injured, with suspicions that the fatality is Óscar Noé Medina, alias 'El Panu', right-hand man of Iván Archivaldo Guzmán of Los Chapitos. Authorities are investigating without confirming the identity yet, as the incident highlights the growing weakness of the Sinaloa Cartel faction. Two of El Chapo's sons have recently pleaded guilty in the US.
On the night of December 21, 2025, two armed men burst into the Luau restaurant at the corner of Niza and Hamburgo streets in Mexico City's Juárez neighborhood, Cuauhtémoc borough. They targeted a table with three people—a woman and two men—firing shots that killed one and injured another before fleeing on a motorcycle. Mexico City Police identified the fatality as Óscar Ruiz Domínguez, from Sinaloa and described by his partner, María José, as a hotel entrepreneur. Fabián Valenzuela Montoya was wounded, and María José, his cousin, was present.
However, unofficial reports and media accounts suggest Ruiz Domínguez may actually be Óscar Noé Medina González, alias 'El Panu', a key operator for Los Chapitos, the faction led by Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán's sons. Medina, with a DEA reward of up to $4 million, served as security chief for fugitive Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, overseeing hitmen, logistics, and fentanyl trafficking to the United States. Authorities, including the Secretariat of Citizen Security and the Attorney General's Office, are reviewing surveillance footage without confirming the identity or motive.
This event adds to the erosion of Los Chapitos: Néstor Pérez Salas, 'El Nini', detained in New York, has been negotiating cooperation with the US for over six months on charges of drug trafficking and witness retaliation. José Ángel Cannobbio Insunza, 'El Güerito', was arrested in Culiacán. Jorge Humberto Figueroa, 'La Perris', died in a May 2025 clash in Sinaloa. Additionally, Joaquín Guzmán López, 'El Güero', pleaded guilty on December 1, 2025, to drug trafficking and the kidnapping of Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada. Ovidio Guzmán did so months earlier for drug trafficking, money laundering, and other charges. The US Department of Justice stated: 'Two Chapitos down. Two more to go'.
