Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, the leader of the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, fled Baja California Sur by private jet after a rival cartel figure delivered a 48-hour ultimatum ordering all Los Chapitos operatives out of the state. The alleged escape took place in late May from San José del Cabo, where Guzmán had been using the resort city as a base. The claims, reported by journalist José Luis Montenegro on the podcast Narcomundo, point to a major Los Cabos cartel power shift with direct consequences for businesses, residents, and visitors across the peninsula’s southern tip.
Sinaloa Cartel Civil War Reached BCS in Late May
The confrontation at the heart of this story is the ongoing civil war inside the Sinaloa Cartel. That war erupted publicly in September 2024, when Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was captured after being lured onto a plane to the United States. His arrest triggered open warfare between Los Chapitos, led by the sons of convicted kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, and rival factions aligned with Zambada’s loyalists. The fighting killed hundreds in Culiacán, Sinaloa, and displaced thousands.
Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, known as “El Chapo Isidro,” leads one of those rival factions. According to Montenegro’s reporting, Meza Flores sent an operative named José René Bastidas Mercado, alias “El 00,” to deliver the 48-hour warning directly. Bastidas allegedly met with senior members of the BCS state government before the ultimatum was issued. That same night, Guzmán boarded a private jet to Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco.
The podcast report names two officials it claims were aware of the escape. BCS Governor Víctor Manuel Castro Cosío, known as “El Profe,” allegedly knew about Guzmán’s departure. So did Carlos Alberto Beltrán Olmedo, then the chief administrative officer of the Los Cabos city council, who resigned from his position on May 25. Montenegro claimed both officials have close ties to the Guzmán family. Neither official has publicly responded to the allegations.
Guzmán’s presence in San José del Cabo was not random. Los Cabos has long served as a strategic corridor for the Sinaloa Cartel, offering private airstrips, a coastline suited for maritime smuggling, and a tourism economy that generates massive cash flows useful for laundering. Guzmán reportedly used the area as a preferred hideout, and his associate Jaime Andrés Fernández Zazueta, alias “El Jimmy,” served as his third-ranking strategist within the cartel.
“El 00” Allegedly Runs Extortion and Fentanyl Operations Across BCS
The more immediate concern for anyone living or doing business in Los Cabos is what comes next. According to the Narcomundo report, Bastidas, alias “El 00,” now controls the territory. His role goes beyond drug trafficking. He allegedly collects extortion payments from businesses across BCS and enforces what Montenegro described as a “Narco Pax.”
That term refers to a cartel strategy in which organized crime groups offer a form of imposed stability. In exchange for being allowed to control drug distribution routes and operate fentanyl laboratories, the group claims it can guarantee peace. Surface-level calm replaces open violence, but the cost is total criminal control over the local economy. Businesses that refuse to pay face consequences. Police officers who refuse to cooperate face worse: Montenegro alleged that Bastidas has been responsible for killing officers who rejected the arrangement.
Bastidas was born in Ajoya, a town in San Ignacio, Sinaloa. He began his criminal career under Dámaso López Núñez, alias “El Licenciado,” a figure from the Beltrán Leyva Cartel. After López Núñez and his son were arrested, Bastidas took control of their territory in La Cruz, Elota, Sinaloa. He then aligned with El Chapo Isidro’s faction.
The Narco Pax model has been documented in other Mexican states, particularly in Michoacán and Tamaulipas. Its arrival in BCS represents a shift. Los Cabos has historically experienced lower levels of cartel violence compared to mainland Mexico, partly because criminal organizations had an incentive to keep the tourism economy running smoothly. But extortion, once rare in the tourist corridor, has been reported with increasing frequency by local business owners over the past two years.
Cartel Hierarchy Weakened by Arrests and Killings
The Los Chapitos faction has been significantly weakened since 2024. El Jimmy, the Guzmán associate who was present during the BCS standoff, rose to become the faction’s third-ranking leader. But the two men above him are gone. José Ángel Canobbio Inzunza, alias “El Güerito,” was extradited to the United States on February 27, 2025. Óscar Noé Medina González, alias “El Panu,” was killed in December at a restaurant in the Juárez neighborhood of Mexico City.
That pattern of attrition helps explain why Los Chapitos could not hold BCS. With senior leadership either dead, extradited, or on the run, the faction lacked the muscle to resist El Chapo Isidro’s push into the state. Guzmán’s own history includes a 2016 kidnapping by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) at a restaurant in Puerto Vallarta, a reminder that even top cartel leaders operate under constant threat.
None of these claims have been independently verified by federal authorities. FGR, Mexico’s federal attorney general’s office, has not commented on the alleged meeting between cartel operatives and BCS government officials. Governor Castro Cosío’s administration has not addressed the report. The next BCS gubernatorial election is scheduled for 2027, and the allegations of institutional ties to the Guzmán family will likely shadow that race. The original reporting was sourced from Infobae México.