Some 53 people have been killed and 51 others are missing in Mexico's western Sinaloa state since rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel began clashing on Sept 9, local authorities said on Friday, with gruesome violence showing no signs of abating.

U.S. intelligence analysts suggest the conflict could last for years. The Drug Enforcement Administration reports the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels have a presence in all 50 U.S. states, controlling global networks that dominate the fentanyl and methamphetamine trade.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has blamed the United States in part for the surge in cartel violence terrorizing the northern state of Sinaloa which has left at least 30 people dead in the past week.

CULIACAN, Mexico, Sept 22, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Mexican media reported 10 new deaths on Saturday in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, where rival cartel factions have been in open conflict with each other and authorities in recent days.

At least 30 people have been killed in the past two weeks in Mexico’s northern state of Sinaloa as two factions of the powerful Sinaloa cartel continue to clash.

Shootouts in the western Mexican state of Sinaloa have kindled fears that an intra-cartel war is about to break out in the wake of the arrest of legendary trafficker, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, in July.

Two warring factions of the Sinaloa cartel appear to be fighting for power since two of its leaders were arrested in the U.S.