Mexico: Unusually High Violence in Northern Sonora State

On Oct. 2, two U.S. Border Patrol agents were shot — one, fatally — near Naco, Arizona, a city roughly 12 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. The identities of the agents have not been revealed, but they are believed to have been stationed at the Naco Border Patrol Station, which is responsible for patrolling 1,175 square miles of border. This territory covers 32 miles of border, including areas just opposite the Mexican cities of Agua Prieta, Naco and Cananea in northern Sonora state.

Over the past two weeks, several people have been killed throughout northern Sonora state, where drug-related homicides ordinarily are infrequent. On Sept. 20, an unidentified man was shot and killed at a bar in the border city of Sonoyta. Earlier that day, a 17-year-old girl was shot and killed while walking down a street in Agua Prieta. The girl's slaying was reportedly the third death in Agua Prieta in as many days. On Sept. 24, authorities found three dead bodies in Puerto Penasco and another in Agua Prieta. All four victims died from gunshot wounds.

Sonora state is a valuable drug-trafficking corridor, but due to its sparse population, its rural landscape and the Sinaloa Federation's uncontested control, it has been spared much of the violence that has plagued other regions in Mexico. The recent attacks could be the result of local crime or of a rivalry between local criminal groups. However, other drug cartels operate in nearby regions, so it is possible that one of the Sinaloa Federation's rivals, such as Los Zetas or remnants of the Beltran Leyva Organization, are moving in on the Sinaloa stronghold. Were a turf war to begin, the rate of violence in Sonora state would substantially increase.