The body of Sergio Cazarés Zambada, nephew of drug trafficker Ismael ‘Mayo’ Zambada García, was found with bullet wounds inside a vehicle outside Culiacán. Family members confirmed his identity on Monday, February 9. The discovery occurs amid violence between factions of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Sergio Cazarés Zambada, nephew of Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael ‘Mayo’ Zambada García—currently imprisoned in the United States—was found dead on Sunday night in a rural area of Culiacán, Sinaloa. The body was inside the trunk of a gray Ford Bronco truck, parked on the shoulder of the Culiacán-Mazatlán highway, about 15 kilometers from the capital, near the Agronomy School of the Autonomous University of Sinaloa. He was wearing black clothing, including pants and a shirt, and had multiple bullet wounds.
The remains were taken to the Forensic Medical Service that night. While Secretary Omar García Harfuch initially stated that the body had not been identified, family members went to confirm his identity on Monday, February 9. This was not the first attack on Cazarés Zambada: in 2012, he survived a shooting outside the ‘Geisha’ business in Culiacán’s Jorge Almada neighborhood.
The incident takes place amid the conflict between the ‘La Mayiza’ and ‘Los Chapitos’ factions of the Sinaloa Cartel, which authorities and local sources link to rising violence in the area. Other relatives of ‘Mayo’ Zambada have met similar ends in previous years. For instance, Eliseo Imperial Castro, alias ‘El Cheyo Antrax’, was killed on May 30, 2024; according to reports, ‘Mayo’ himself may have ordered it due to Castro collecting debts in the cartel’s name for personal gain. Geovany Parra Zambada died on August 28, 2016, and Vicente Zambada Reyes, aged 28 and son of Reynaldo Zambada García ‘El Rey’, was killed on December 11, 2015, along with three other members of his armed group.
