Federal forces on Thursday arrested “El Piyi,” an alleged security chief for the “Los Chapitos” faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. His capture deals a significant blow to the criminal group as it engages in a fierce battle with the “Los Mayos” faction of the same cartel.
Mario Alexander Gámez Cuevas, known as “El Piyi,” was detained in Culiacán, Sinaloa, during an operation carried out by the army and National Guard. He was subsequently transferred to Mexico City.
At least five other alleged Sinaloa Cartel gunmen who were traveling with Gámez in a convoy of vehicles in the north of Culiacán were also detained, according to reports.
El Piyi is allegedly a close collaborator of Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, one of the sons of convicted drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
Guzmán Salazar is a leader of the “Los Chapitos” faction of the Sinaloa Cartel along with his brother Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar.
His two half-brothers, Joaquín Guzmán López and Ovidio Guzmán López, are in custody in the United States.
According to reports, Gámez formerly worked with Néstor Isidro “El Nini” Pérez Salas, an ex-security chief for the “Los Chapitos” who was arrested in Culiacán last November and extradited to the United States in May.
Before his arrest, he reportedly worked closely with Jorge Humberto Figueroa, another alleged security chief for “Los Chapitos.”
El Piyi is believed to have been playing a key role in the conflict between “Los Chapitos” and “Los Mayos” that has intensified in recent weeks as the latter faction seeks revenge for the arrest of alleged Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García. Zambada alleges he was kidnapped by Joaquín Guzmán López and forced onto a private plane that delivered him to U.S. law enforcement authorities in late July.
Dozens of people have been killed in what has been described as a “war” between the rival cartel factions. More murders occurred in Culiacán on Thursday.
Gámez reportedly kept a low profile in an attempt to avoid identification and arrest. His face was rarely seen, the Milenio newspaper reported, because he always used a balaclava.
However, El Piyi became known through songs recorded by Peso Pluma and other artists who make music that fits into the corridos tumbados subgenre of regional Mexican music.
Through such songs, “the identity and personality” of Gámez was revealed “little by little,” federal sources told Milenio.
The songs mention his “different exploits” and “confrontations against the government and opposing groups,” the sources said.
According to Milenio, Gámez also “won notoriety” because he took part in the two so-called culiacanzos — the violent cartel responses to the capture of Ovidio Guzmán in 2019 and again in 2023.
The alleged cartel security chief reportedly kept three lion clubs as pets and recently traveled to the United Arab Emirates, where he drove buggies in the desert and posed for a photo with a falcon on his head.
With reports from Expansión Política, Reforma, Infobae, Latinus, El Financiero and Milenio
