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MEXICO CITY — At least 14 people were killed and 23 wounded Friday after the CJNG cartel ambushed a rival faction of the Chapitos brothers’ Sinaloa coalition near the town of Eldorado, Sinaloa state, in one of the deadliest single-day clashes since the cartels’ 2023 internal war escalated.

The attack, using armored vehicles and mounted gunmen, struck a checkpoint the Chapitos faction had established along the Pacific coastal highway. State authorities said the death toll could rise as rescue workers reach areas cut off by ongoing gunfire. The National Guard has been deployed to the zone.

Both groups have been fighting for control of the Pacific fentanyl trafficking corridor since the January capture of Ovidio Guzmán López, whose extradition to the US last year triggered a leadership struggle within the Sinaloa coalition. The CJNG has sought to seize territory while the Chapitos brothers’ faction remains fractured.

Mexico’s President said the government’s priority was “restoring order” but announced no new security measures. Analysts say the Eldorado ambush shows the security forces have lost de facto control of large swaths of Sinaloa. Markets reacted: the peso weakened 0.8 percent against the dollar.

Written by Diego Vargas, Latin America Correspondent