This is Sinaloa, the heart of the Chapo Guzmán cartel in Mexico

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This photo shows a general view of the Malecon in Mazatlan, in Sinaloa, before Hurricane Willa. (Credit: ALFREDO ESTRELLA / AFP / Getty Images)

(CNN Spanish) - Sinaloa is sadly famous for being home to one of the oldest international cartels in Mexico, and the birthplace of Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, the bloodthirsty leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, which this year was convicted in the US UU. life imprisonment for its participation in a continuous criminal enterprise and drug trafficking charges, among others. Prosecutors called him the "ruthless and bloodthirsty leader" of the Sinaloa cartel.

He was also sentenced to pay $ 12.6 billion in fine.

Sinaloa is a state located in the Mexican Pacific, home to just over 2.9 million inhabitants, which represents 2.5% of the country's population, and contributes 2.1% to Mexico's GDP, according to the Institute National Statistics and Geography, INEGI.

This state of northwestern Mexico, whose main activity is commerce, is sadly famous for being the birthplace of Chapo Guzmán Loera, the drug trafficker who founded the Sinaloa Cartel.

However, it has some recognized tourist spots among its 18 municipalities, including its capital, Culiacán, whose coast has beaches, peninsulas, islands, islets, bays, lagoons and estuaries that are an attractive listed as a tourist attraction of the country. And Mazatlan, which is the gateway to Sinaloa and according to the secretary of tourism of the state, is the "jewel in the crown" that, with a series of changes, became an international destination.

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Sinaloa is a mainly agricultural area that produces wheat, chickpeas, rice, cotton, tobacco, sugar cane and other crops. There, activities such as fishing and manufacturing are also important and minerals such as zinc, gold, silver, lead, manganese are extracted and products such as beer, cigarettes and cotton textiles are produced.

However, due to its long coastline in the Pacific and hard-to-reach areas, which makes it "favorable for drug cultivation" and makes Sinaloa remain "the heart of drug trafficking" in Mexico, says a report from Research Service of the United States Congress on drug cartels in Mexico.

According to that report, there is an area of ​​drug cultivation at the border of Sinaloa, Chihuahua and Durango that is known as the “Golden Triangle” of Mexico: “In this region, according to press reports, it is estimated that a third of the population lives from illicit drug trafficking. ”

"Sinaloa controlled 40% -60% of Mexico's drug trafficking by 2012 and annual earnings are estimated to be up to 3 billion dollars," said the US Congressional Research Service.

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Armed violence

Undoubtedly, Sinaloa has suffered for years the armed violence of Mexican cartels, and has been caught in the midst of violence between drug cartels competing with each other.

Despite the violence, murder levels have been reduced in recent years, with a homicide rate of 36.5 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2018, a significant reduction since in 2017 it was 50.59 per 100,000 inhabitants, says the Mexican Peace Index report published this year by the Institute of Economy and Peace. (Page 15)

"It is possible that such progress is the result of government and community actions throughout the state to reduce violence," he says.

In 2017 in the former territory of Chapo Guzmán, homicides skyrocketed compared to 2016, reaching 1,332, according to government statistics for 2018.

That year, after Guzmán Loera was extradited to the US. UU. for drug trafficking, violence increased due to an internal struggle for the leadership of the Cartel.

"In the absence of their leader [Chapo Guzmán] because they are fighting who can take charge of the organization," General Salvador Cienfuegos, then secretary of National Defense of Mexico, told reporters.

In 2016, Sinaloa had the third highest homicide rate in Mexico, reaching 38 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants by having an increase of 15% compared to 2015, says the Mexico Peace Index report published in 2017.

Sinaloa