A cartel apparatus in the state

Members of the Mexican army protecting an area where, hours later, authorities would confirm the arrest of two high-ranking members of El Chapo’s faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, in Culiacan, Mexico, on Feb 19, 2025. — Daniele Volpe/The New York Times

THE pact with the authorities worked like this, cartel operatives said: spoken code words cleared the way for drugs and wea­pons to pass through security checkpoints unimpeded; names of rivals were given to police officers who detained and delivered them to their enemies; and at times, cartel gunmen joined in on police raids.

For years, an invisible architecture of protection inside various levels of Mexico’s government allowed the Sinaloa Cartel to operate in plain sight, several members of the criminal syndicate said.