Mexican president blames US in part for rise in violence in Sinaloa

(CNN) — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says the United States is partially responsible for a wave of violence in the state of Sinaloa that has left dozens dead in the past two weeks, with bodies repeatedly found on public streets and highways.

López Obrador suggested during a press conference Thursday that Washington helped stir up enmity between factions of the Sinaloa drug cartel after arresting two cartel leaders in the US.

On July 25, Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was arrested along with Joaquín Guzmán López, son of drug kingpin “El Chapo” Guzmán, after they landed near El Paso, Texas on a small plane.

Zambada would later claim that he was “ambushed” and “kidnapped” by Guzmán López and hand-delivered to US authorities.

“A group of men assaulted me, knocked me to the ground, and placed a dark-colored hood over my head,”  Zambada said in a statement released by his attorney in August, adding he was tied and handcuffed and forced into the back of a pickup, driven to a landing strip, and forced onto the US-bound private plane.

It remains unclear why Guzmán López surrendered to US authorities and brought Zambada with him.

The Mexican president alleged the US Department of Justice had “agreements” with an organized criminal group that led to the arrest of Zambada, also referring to the operation as a kidnapping.

CNN has reached out to the US Department of Justice for comment on López Obrador’s allegations.

US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar previously denied that Washington was involved in the operation that led to Zambada’s arrest.

“It was not a US plane, it was not a US pilot, it was not our agents or our people in Mexico. This was an operation between the cartels, where one handed over to the other,” he said on Aug. 9.

‘In Sinaloa, there wasn’t the violence that there is now’

In the weeks after the arrests, violent clashes erupted in Sinaloa between what Mexican authorities call rival factions loyal to Zambada and those led by other sons of “El Chapo.”

The surge in violence has left at least 49 people dead since September 9, according to official figures.

The state prosecutor’s office has reported numerous cases of dead bodies being found with gunshots in the streets, on highways and in other locations across Sinaloa.

The situation forced Gov. Ruben Rocha Moya to suspend Independence Day celebrations last week and cancel classes at all levels for two days.

“In Sinaloa, there wasn’t the violence that there is now,” the Mexican president said Thursday.

However, López Obrador also denied that the situation in the state is completely out of control, insisting that Mexican authorities are handling it.

“No, we are there, but we have had to take special measures and move elements of the Armed Forces and we have also lost officers who have been killed due to this special, extraordinary situation,” he said.

Mexican Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said on Tuesday that at least two soldiers died last week during the violence in Sinaloa.

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