Mexican Forces Kill Sinaloa Cartel Figure ‘El 30’ in Culiacán Clash

Mexican federal and state security forces killed Jesús Norberto Larrañaga Herrera, known as “El 30,” during an air-and-ground operation in the rural community of Tacuichamona, south of Culiacán, over the weekend. Authorities said the alleged Sinaloa Cartel logistics chief died inside a bullet-riddled Jeep after exchanges of fire that began before dawn on 12 July. The confrontation left at least four civilians dead, according to preliminary official tallies, and resulted in the seizure of seven vehicles, assault rifles, handguns, ammunition and tactical equipment. The operation involved units from the Army, Navy and Sinaloa state police, who used helicopter gunships to support ground troops. Larrañaga, 32, had been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in 2024 for allegedly supplying methamphetamine and fentanyl and laundering proceeds for the Sinaloa Cartel faction led by Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. U.S. authorities had described him as a key facilitator of cross-border drug shipments. Sinaloa’s State Human Rights Commission opened an investigation after residents alleged excessive use of force and delays in forensic procedures. Commission president Oscar Loza Ochoa said the case may be referred to the federal human-rights ombudsman given the involvement of national security forces.