Our experiences during the unrest within Sinaloa

 

This blog may contain factual error.  Everything we write was either told to us by local Mexican people or experienced first hand.  If it turns out things we were told are not correct, it is not because we tried to sensationalize the situation.  There were a lot of rumours and misinformation during the first day after the arrest of Ovidio Guzman.  This is an account of the scariest two day of our trip and how the amazing people of the community El Rosario ensured our safety.

January 5^th – “Get off the road, it is not safe for you!”

We woke up late on account of our celebrations of Kendra’s birthday.  We slowly packed the van and cooked some brunch.  We had until noon to leave our Airbnb so we were not in any rush. 

The owner of the Airbnb approached Paul asking where we were going, as there had been “an incident” up north resulting in highway closures.  When Paul told him we would be heading south he seemed relieved.  He then asked where we were going and Paul said “San Blas” in the state south of Sinaloa.  He was curious why we had chosen not to see any other sights in his state and recommended a few communities.  He was confident that they were safe communities to go to and so close to Mazatlan that we could take the free highway.  [Most blogs recommend tourists stick the toll highways].  After a bit of discussion and assurances that it was both safe and that we would be doing ourselves a disservice to not go, we jumped in the van towards the first town, a Magic Town known as El Rosario.

Paul did Google “the incident” and learned that it was the arrest of Ovidio Guzman, El Chapo’s son and the defacto leader of the most powerful cartel in Mexico, the Sinaloa Cartel, responsible for most of the fentanyl entering the US and Canada.  According to the news at the time, the epicenter of the violence was the capital city, Culiacan, but the cities of Guasave and Los Mochis were also experiencing some violence.  We were counting our blessings as our ferry that we had originally reserved was to Topolobampo, just outside of Los Mochis, and the campground we had selected to celebrate Kendra’s birthday was just outside of Culiacan.  Thanks TMC ferries for selling us a ticket to Mazatlán when we had a reservation for the ferry to Topolobampo!

As we drove through Mazatlán we noticed that all the shops were closed.  It was still before noon and we assumed that maybe things didn’t open up until afternoon in the city, or maybe it was siesta time so things were closing down for a few hours.

We turned on Highway 15 (libre) going South and we were surprised at how empty it was and how good the road condition was.  We assumed that because the highway was free that it would be packed with people.  It was a little annoying constantly having to slow down to 60 km/h for bus stop areas, but that was something we have become accustomed to.  Once again we assumed that most people were at work (it was a Thursday) and/or were driving the toll road. 

Highway 15 was a divided highway leaving Mazatlán and we were shocked when we saw a large number of cars driving on the wrong side of the divided highway. Luckily they were travelling in the same direction as use, just on the other side of the fence and barricade.  We didn’t understand why until we got to the turnoff for the Mazatlán airport where we encountered, what we thought was, a horrible accident.  We thought somehow two semitrucks and crashed into each other, resulting in them blocking all lanes of the southbound section of the highway and bursting into flames.  Thankfully, there was a little break in the divided highway that the van could barely squeeze through allowing us to join the couple of cars driving on the other side of the divided highway.  We found it surprising how much military personnel were near this accident but they didn’t seem to be trying to put out the fire.  After about a kilometre we were able to get back onto the correct side of the divided highway and continue on our way.

We continued south and were happy to be on the correct side of the road when three state police trucks passed us heading towards Mazatlán.  We laughed happy to not be breaking the law in front of the police as we didn’t want a ticket.  A couple minutes later an unmarked truck passed us on the other side of the divided highway full of people with machine guns.  They were not wearing uniforms and wore bandanas over their face.  We do not know who these people were but they did not look like military personal, nor look like the local or state police officers.  Seeing these people put us on edge, we started to question if the incident we had heard about was actually impacting the south of Sinaloa.

As we continued south we were surprised that all Oxxo and SIX convinces stores had shuttered their doors.  This was very unusual; they are usually always open.  But we were in rural mainland Mexico for the first time and thought again that maybe it was just siesta time as it was between 12pm and 2pm.

We arrived in El Rosario, and saw a few of its sights, but we could feel how tense the community was.  Many people were in the church praying.  Most businesses were closed and we were getting a lot of stares. So we decided to leave to the next community that was recommended Escuinapa de Hidalgo, which was only 20 kilometers away.  We got back on Highway 15 (libre) and started towards the community.

Another odd unmarked truck drove past us in the other direction with many people in the back with bandanas.  This time most were wearing camouflage.  They had no weapons.  We don’t who they were but once again it was unnerving and we were feeling more unsettled as we drove down an empty highway. 

After another kilometer there were three guys sitting under and underpass, they started waving at us, telling us to stop, but this time we were freaked out and raced passed them.  After another kilometre we got to what they were trying to warn us about, it was a semitruck fully engulfed in flames, it looked quasi recently started (at least more recent than the truck near the Mazatlán airport).  There was no more denying it, the incident that occurred in the north was impacting the whole state.  The Sinaloa Cartel had placed roadblocks on the major highways throughout the state of Sinaloa.  We didn’t know what we should do.  Our first thought was to get to the toll road, the only access point we had to that road was in El Rosario, so we returned to that community.

As we approached the community we had countless people waving us down, we were still on edge and freaked out so didn’t stop to talk to them.  We thought we had to figured this out by ourselves.  Thankfully, right around the town square a person with some English walked out in front of our van.  The man firmly told us we needed to get off the road, it was not safe for us and that due to the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) involvement the cartel were targeting tourists.  He offered us accommodations at his house, but we told him we would try to get a hotel for the night.  Before leaving he told us that if we weren’t able to find anywhere to stay to come back and he would take us to his house.

We went from hotel to hotel but they were all booked up for the night.  As we were leaving one hotel we ran into a man named Mario, who once again echoed that the roads are unsafe, especially for us and that he was going to take us somewhere safe.  We were taken to a school in the community that had been set up as a temporary shelter.  There was water, bathrooms and they were working out where and how everyone would sleep there.  By the end of the day this shelter would accommodate 700 people that were trapped in the area of El Rosario due to the roadblocks.

Once again we were told what was going on by people in the shelter.  We were told that the DEA had placed a $5 million bounty on Ovidio Guzman and many had talked about US air craft in the area of Guzman’s compound around the time of his arrest. We were told that tourists would likely be targeted in retaliation of as a way to negotiate with Mexican or US governments.  After a short time Mario returned saying that we would be moved to a more secure location.  There was some thought that our international license plate on our van may attract the wrong type of attention. 

It was around this time we learned that in November the Grande Prairie Alberta Rotary Club along with neighbouring Rotary Clubs and the Highway to Mexico non-profit had donated a fire truck to the community of El Rosario and that the mayor had become aware that Canadians were stranded in her community.  We also met Enrique, a tourism director for the community who spoke English well.  We were moved to the Museum and told to park the van a block away just in case anyone came into the community looking to cause trouble.  We removed all our food, clothing and bedding from the van.  We thought we had taken everything we needed until they pointed to the propane on top of the van being clear that that had to be taken off the van and taken inside the museum.  We were told we could stay at the museum for as long as we needed to and if we needed anything to let Enrique know.  The community was very appreciative of the Canadian Rotary Clubs and felt obligated to keep us safe.  A short time later a couple from Arizona also joined us in the Museum.

Before Mario and Enrique left they told us, do not leave.  Stay in the museum and they will come back with any news we need to know. 

Feeling like we had to figure out what the current situation was for ourselves, we went on to Google to try to figure out what was going on.  We read from Canadian news source, the first one was from Global News which had talked to a woman who had texted her brother.  She had reported that Mazatlán was “on fire”.  The second article, from CTV quoted another woman who had said she had heard machine gunfire.  The following day we learned they were all unverified claims and were false. Much later we learned that with school being cancelled for another day there were fireworks and firecrackers being lit in Mazatlán, which is definitely not gunfire, something we have experienced on holidays and weekends in our travels around Baja California.

Unfortunately, because this was the only news we had at the time we were feeling more stressed.  I can not image how this inaccurate reporting must have affected people in Mazatlán, because it caused us a lot of anguish. We are now looking back at those individual encounters and reports and people claiming everything was calm and safe.  Unfortunately, everything is calm and safe for those who are in safe communities and places in the state, but that unfortunately this cannot be said for all places, and our hearts go out to the communities that are still locked down and are not yet safe. While we were safe, we still were concerned about this uncertain situation.

 

January 6^th – A run to the border

We woke up early and tired.  Although we had a restless night sleep, we did feel safe and the city was quiet.  We learned that there was no violence in El Rosario, however, the community we had tried to get to yesterday, Escuinapa de Hidalgo, did not have a quiet night.  The community of El Rosario was waking up and business were starting to reopen.  Mario and Enrique told us the community is safe and we could leave the Museum, but the highway was still closed.  They said if it would open up they would let us know.
We felt truly blessed to be “stuck” in El Rosario, this Magic Town was so accommodating and beautiful.  We spent the morning walking around the Lagoon and trying to find some sort of souvenir, we both bought T-shirts. 

We even tried to eat something, settling on some very cheap but delicious street tacos.

Around noon we were told the highway had reopened and was safe.  We decided to hit the road and go south to Nayarit, ideally going to San Blas, Nayarit, around 250 km’s away.  The first 100 kilometers had us dodging burned out semitrucks.  There were burned out trucks at almost every entrance and exit to the toll road.  There were some people taking sacks of flour out of a burned out of a few burned out trucks, we figured they were looting as they drove away on their motorcycle balancing these giant sacks of flour and figured that the highway had just been reopened since the trucks left to burned were just beginning to be looted from. The locals knew that to be safe you had to stay off the roads and stay in your home, so we weren’t the only ones excited for the highway to be opened. The free highway was still closed, due to the burned vehicles blocking the road, but there was no toll being charged on the toll road.  We were about 1.4 kilometers away from the border to Nayarit when the border closed.  Very quickly a line up behind grew for many kilometers as many others tried to leave the state.  Big groups of people left their buses or vehicles to try to figure out why it had been closed.  We overheard some people wonder if they would have to sleep on the side of the road.  Others talked about a security issue or the prevention of the cockroach effect (preventing cartel members from leaving Sinaloa).  Really they were all guesses; no one knew anything.

Because of the hundreds of people in the area all using the same cell towers, the cell service was non-existent.  We were unable to communicate with our families or search for any news or updates.  We were nervous we would be spending the night on the side of the road in Sinaloa.

After 3 hours of waiting, in 33 degree heat, the border opened up. We then learned they had closed it to properly clear all lanes of the highway by towing the 6 semitrucks off of the road.  We were told that previously they had just opened a gap for a few vehicles to get through at a time.

We excitedly crossed into Nayarit and decided to break one of the key rules associated with driving in Mexico, do not drive at night.  Sunset was an hour away but we could not find a campground anywhere near by, the closest place we could find camping was in San Blas, almost 2 hours away. 

The last 36 kilometer entering San Blas was exhausting.  It was a windy road and it started to hit us just how tired we were and stressed we had been.  Getting to the campground felt like one of the first times we were able to properly breathe. We called our families, drank a beer and spent a couple hours silently processing the last couple days.

We are writing this as we sit with a beautiful view of the beach, knowing that we can breathe a bit easier since we are no longer in Sinaloa.  We are truly grateful and appreciative to the entire community of El Rosario, to Mario and Enrique, and all the strangers who were trying to keep us safe. While we were never in a place of immediate danger, we feel (so stereotypically) blessed for all the people we encountered in this challenging situation. While their state of Sinaloa was in chaos and conflict, they not only reached out to help us but hundreds of others, and they did it with such calm and certainty that this will pass. Who knows what stupid mistakes or decisions we would have made if we didn’t encounter those helpful strangers in El Rosario.