García Harfuch announces US $48M security package for Sinaloa

Federal Security Minister Omar García Harfuch announced on Monday a 900-million-peso (US $48.2 million) security investment in Sinaloa, a state plagued by cartel violence.

García Harfuch announced the investment at an event in Mazatlán, where National Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla Trejo pledged that the military won’t withdraw from Sinaloa until “conditions of peace” are reestablished in the state.

Part of the 900 million pesos will be used to purchase new vehicles and equipment for Sinaloa state police as well as municipal forces in Culiacán and Mazatlán. Money will also be used to bring a new highway surveillance center into operation.

In a social media post, García Harfuch said that the federal Security Ministry (SSPC) will supply 200 vehicles to police forces in Sinaloa. Among the vehicles will be armored pickup trucks, armored tactical vehicles and motorcycles. The Sinaloa government said in a statement that the vehicles are in addition to 100 police cars previously given to state police by federal authorities. The National Defense Ministry delivered an additional 80 vehicles to Sinaloa police on Monday.

In addition to 200 vehicles, the SSPC will supply three surveillance drones and radio equipment to state police and the municipal forces in Culiacán, the state capital, and Mazatlán, Sinaloa’s top tourism destination.

García Harfuch said that the vehicles and equipment will be delivered to the police forces on Dec. 15. He said that the C4 Carretero, as the new highway surveillance center is called, will begin operations the same day.

On X, García Harfuch wrote that the C4 Carretero will strengthen surveillance along 250 kilometers of highway in the “Culiacán-Mazatlán-Durango corridor.”

The surveillance center will operate with 240 “intelligent monitoring points“, 720 cameras and 30 license plate readers, the security minister said.

Speaking at a military facility in Mazatlán, García Harfuch also said that the federal government was signing new security collaboration agreements with Sinaloa Governor Graciela Domínguez Nava. On X, he pledged that federal forces would “continue to work together [with local authorities] to make progress in the pacification of the state and provide greater security for Sinaloa families.”

García Harfuch also wrote that “with the support of the National Intelligence Center, intelligence and investigative capabilities will be expanded through the addition of new specialized units in the state.”

Much of the violence in Sinaloa since late 2024 has been related to fighting between the “Los Chapitos” and “Los Mayos” factions of the Sinaloa Cartel. A long-running dispute between the two factions escalated in September 2024, around six weeks after Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of convicted drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, kidnapped Sinaloa Cartel kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and forced him onto a private plane that flew both men to New Mexico, where they were arrested by U.S. authorities.

While homicides have declined in Sinaloa this year, the state remains among the most violent in Mexico.

Data presented by the federal government at President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Tuesday morning press conference showed that there were 1,156 homicides in Sinaloa in the first 10 months of 2026, a reduction of 18.8% compared to the same period of last year. Despite the decline, Sinaloa ranked as the fourth most violent state in Mexico in terms of total homicides between January and October. Almost 8% of all homicides in Mexico this year were perpetrated in the state.