Before dawn, the principal of an elementary school in the capital of Sinaloa, Mexico, is checking various chats on his mobile phone for the words of the shooting and other incidents. If there is a risk, he will send a message to the student's parents about pausing their lessons.
It's not the only new routine in Culiacan, a city with a million residents for the past six months. The battlefield of two major factions of the Sinaloan drug cartel.
Violence limited time to fill the deaths. The band played a massive party and play for money at the intersection. If there is a loud noise, send the kids running around for the cover. And people who live on the changing frontlines fear their lives every day.
This was the first extended period of violence that touched the residents of Culiacan, as the cartel was safe in full control.
Many residents now appreciate the pressure that US President Donald Trump has applied Mexico to chase the cartels, and are optimistic that this difficult time could change the enduring view that cartels are their guardians.
“I'm tired of being inside a bullet.”
Starting in September, Ismael “Elmayo” Zambada, the oldest and most striking leader of the Sinaloa cartel, was lured by one of the sons of former leader Joaquin “Elchapo” Guzman, and both were taken to the United States, where they were arrested.
It unleashed the power struggle between both cartels and an unwritten agreement not to attack non-invasive residents on drug trafficking.
There was a cartel obstacle where innocent people caught up in carjacking, tricks, tricks and crossfires scan people's phones in search of traces of contact with the other side. Government data shows that there have been more than 900 killings since September.
Residents of Costa Rica, a small town south of the capital, followed the frontline on the horizon. On one side it's “chapo” and on the other side it's “mayo”. He, like most others, requested anonymity due to danger.
An old man there said he saw the gunman throwing two bodies into the street.
And sometimes people just disappear. Giulio Hector Carrillo, 34, has never arrived at the house from visiting his relatives in late January. His only violation did not respect the voluntary curfew of locals, according to his brother-in-law, Mario Bertran.
Instead of sticking to social platforms, his family dared not to show any signs of a search. A search group looking for something that disappeared found a body undergoing a DNA test.
“We have not had crime statistics for the past 30-40 years, but we have so many families gone (relatives),” said Miguel Calderon of the state public security board of citizens. Some are simply picked up, interrogated and released, while others become the face walls of Culiacan Cathedral.
“Really, we're very tired and very tired of being in the bullet,” said the 38-year-old small business owner, who imposed his own family security protocols. There is no cycling for his 18-year-old son visiting his girlfriend and tracking in real time via his mobile phone.
Their seven-year-old daughter asks in the morning. “Dad, can you go to school today? Have you already checked (Facebook)?”
“There are things that you can't hide from your kids,” he said.
US: What about a solution or problem?
How Mexican authorities are tackling violence has changed particularly over the past month, with locals believing Trump as the reason.
When it began, Mexico was led by President Andre Manuel Lopez Obrador, who had expressed no interest in minimizing cartel violence and chasing cartel leaders. His close ally, Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha, did the same. Rocha spokesman Feliciano Castro claims the US caused violence by arresting Zambada.
Things changed when Trump won the election. Shutting down illegal immigrants and chasing drug traffickers was one of his campaign promises, and he threatened to impose a 25% tariff on Tuesday.
Mexico's new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, had already shown that the cartel, particularly the main business, was willing to hold a more aggressive hand with Sinaloa, fentanyl.
The number of security operations and arrests in Sinaloa is on the rise, and there is now direct federal oversight of all security measures.
“I have never seen such an overwhelming, everyday business with a cartel,” said Ismael Bojörquez, a veteran Sinaloa journalist who covers organized crime critical of Lopez Obrador's handoff approach.
In December, authorities seized more than a ton of fentanyl in Sinaloa in the first six months of 2024, compared to just 286 pounds across Mexico.
According to data from the reserve country, in the last 10 days of February, authorities dismantled 113 synthetic drug labs.
Officials have not said whether they produced fentanyl or methamphetamine. If there is a role US Intelligence played, it is unknown.
In Kaliakan, authorities have defeated more than 400 cartel surveillance cameras, doubling what the authorities had.
Recent actions have undermined both cartel facts, but if the government really wants to destroy them, the government can't stand it, Bojorquez said.
“I didn't think (Trump) had that much power to do that…but I'm grateful,” the beer store owner said, pausing at a police checkpoint.
A 55-year-old woman sitting on the bench agreed as the forensic team loads the murder victim's body into a truck. The day before, she attended Mass for her son-in-law. He was killed five months ago by a lost bullet while walking with his daughter a few blocks away.
“We're leaving, but we don't know if we'll come back,” she said.
Overcome fear and build peace
The hall at Socrates Elementary School in downtown Kaliacan explains what to do if the alarm goes off and a child suddenly falls to the ground.
Principal Manuel Ashpro says he can't remember what it was like to have all of the nearly 400 students in school. There was a day when around 80 families fled the city and under 10 children attended. He decides every day whether there will be in-person classes.
He last closed late last month when a fierce gunfight and low-flying helicopter paniced residents. Two important cartel members have been arrested.
In January, one of his students, a 9-year-old boy, was killed by carjacking along with his 12-year-old brother and father. Thousands of residents took them to the streets in a rare public display of digging.
In the workshop, former political non-governmental organizations led students to write down what scares them. Listed spiders, gunshots, white trucks (preferred cartel transport). Another said he was afraid of being forced or killed.
“People are full of a sense of collective distress, anxiety and social anger, which is different from other crises,” says Calderon, coordinator for Civil Security Group. He said he hopes it will resolve the accomplices of citizens who have seen the cartel as guardians, heroes or emulators for years.
