A prison altercation between members of two competing Mexican cartels spread to the streets of Ciudad Juárez, where alleged gang members are accused of killing eleven, including four radio station employees just miles from El Paso, Texas.

According to deputy security minister Ricardo Mejia, the fighting started on Thursday around 1 p.m. when Los Chapos, members of the Sinaloa cartel headed by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, clashed with the neighbourhood group Los Mexicles in a Juárez prison.

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Authorities claim that the Mexicles went on a killing spree in the city after the riot, killing nine civilians. Four of them were radio station employees, including one announcer.

Six alleged Mexicles members were detained by local police at around 1 in the morning on Friday with assistance from the army and national guard, according to Mejia.

Los Mexicles is a Mexican street gang that operates as the armed wing of the Sinaloa and Gulf Cartels. In south Texas and the Rio Grande Valley, the gang works for the Gulf Cartel, and in Ciudad Juarez, it works for the Sinaloa Cartel. Los Mexicles was founded in 1987 in Tennessee Colony, Texas. 

Violence has long been associated with Ciudad Juárez. As street-level enforcers and proxies for Mexico‘s powerful drug cartels, which aggressively exert control over the border crossing routes they require to transport their product to the United States, gangs like those involved in the riot frequently play a role in the unrest.

After burning cars and establishments in the western states of Jalisco and Guanajuato two days prior in retaliation for the arrest of a high-ranking cartel leader, drug cartel gunmen erupted in violence.

While Mexican drug lord El Chapo is imprisoned in the United States, four of his children are either under indictment or being investigated by federal agents in Chicago.

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Los Chapitos are the four most trusted sons of the drug kingpin. Federal drug investigators in Chicago believe El Chapo’s sons are in charge of the Sinaloa cartel, as the I-Team has reported for several years.

That cartel is still the area’s leading trafficker of heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine. US officials have now set a bounty of $5 million on each of the sons.

From the moment Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was apprehended in 2016 after a shootout with Mexican commandos, his sons were destined to take over the Sinaloa cartel.

Despite the fact that their father is thought to have dozens of children, four were groomed early to take over in his absence. They are now in charge, and in demand by American authorities, with El Chapo serving time in a Colorado supermax prison.

Joaqun Guzmán López, Ovidio Guzmán López, Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, and Jes Alfredo Guzmán Salazar are the four members of the team. Jesus, also known as Alfredillo, is thought to be at the top of the heap and is facing charges of trafficking and conspiracy in Chicago.

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Chapo’s eldest son publicly displays his narco-world wealth by posting videos of his pricey collection of sports cars, private jets, and the cash trail that has made him a top target of federal agents in Chicago. Each Chapito has now received a $5 million reward offer from the State Department. U.S. authorities have updated Ovidio Guzmán-fugitive López’s file with new information. They now claim that the drug lord known as “the Mouse” ordered the killings of informants, a competing drug dealer, and a well-known Mexican singer who declined to sing at his wedding.

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The co-founder of the cartel is currently wanted for $15 million. The United States government is prepared to offer rewards totaling close to $100 million for the top drug traffickers worldwide.