Sinaloa women learn to shoot to defend themselves from cartel violence

Violence against women in the state of Sinaloa in Mexico has led them to take up arms to try to defend themselves from drug traffickers, crime and other types of threats that keep them in fear. 

In Culiacán, the epicenter of violence between the cartels and the government, a man who owns a legal shooting range has insisted on teaching women to use weapons, according to a VICE World News special report on women in the cartel. of Sinaloa and its role in drug trafficking.  

"60% of those who come are women,"

said Jacobo Miller, the authorized weapons instructor, who argues that with training, women are on an equal footing with those who try to attack them. 

'La Patrona' pleaded guilty to money laundering and smuggling tons of drugs between Sinaloa and the United States Millennium

“With things as they are, with so much violence, there is no room for fear.

Now it's about safety and keeping us safe, ”said a woman identified in the report as Tessa, who participates in these courses.

The Sinaloa Cartel, of whom Joaquín

Guzmán was its top boss, has controlled the territory for years, now their children cause terror in the streets, and the women fear being raped and tortured.

[The business of the Sinaloa Cartel is going from strength to strength, even though 'El Chapo' is in prison]

In Mexico, around 10 women are murdered daily

due to their gender, according to some organizations dedicated to analyzing violence of this type. 

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His wife, Ana, with whom he has two daughters, also works at Jacobo's training camp. 

The instructor teaches his students how to get out of a choke hold: “You can't think you're not going to stab your husband!

It's strangling you!

He's trying to kill you! ”He tells the students while demonstrating, according to VICE World News. 

In addition to these classes, other women meet in a city gym to learn self-defense, among them direct victims of violence, such as a woman who was kidnapped by a group allied with the cartel in a restaurant and raped multiple times. 

["She will explain": this letter from 'El Chapo' is one of the evidence that led to the arrest of Emma Coronel]

According to the report, more and more women are training to defend themselves, but also to become murderers in the service of the cartels. 

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Guns appear to be the only way to ensure survival in Sinaloa,

even

Guzmán's

wife

, Emma Coronel, learned to shoot just after her husband was extradited to the United States. 

"Nobody here gave a damn that she was

wife

once he was extradited," a source close to the Sinaloa Cartel told the publication. 

The criminal group has had important women in its ranks, among the most important, Guadalupe Fernández Valencia, known as 'La Patrona', who was sentenced to 10 years in prison last August by a federal judge in Chicago. 

['La Patrona': Senior woman of the Sinaloa Cartel is sentenced to 10 years in prison]

Fernández was the highest ranking woman in the Sinaloa Cartel's criminal structure and was found guilty of drug trafficking and money laundering charges.

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She spent three decades in the drug trafficking business and worked as a close collaborator of Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, known as 'alfredillo', one of

sons

and a fugitive from justice.

Her alliance with the Sinaloa Cartel

, according to VICE World News.

By pleading guilty, he avoided trial and therefore part of his record remains unknown to the public.

'La Patrona' cooperated with the American justice system.

Another of the women who owned her own drug trafficking network, an ally of the Sinaloa cartel, was Luz Irene Fajardo Campos, who was also extradited and sentenced to 22 years in prison last July. 

His arrest was followed by shocking news for his family, the bodies of his children appeared cremated and dismembered in Mexico, this fact was considered as a message from the drug trafficker so that he did not decide to cooperate with justice.

The death of her children, who, according to the publication, were young adults, led her to go to trial, however her mental health was affected and she was referred for a psychiatric evaluation.

Luz Irene Fajardo decided not to cooperate with justice and went to trial.Milenio

“Who would see two of their children kidnapped and murdered and then do something to put the rest of their family at risk?

Nobody would do that, ”his attorney Robert Feitel told VICE World News.

Both women were the most visible faces of the drug trafficker and although they remained anonymous for a long time, their names are not far from being legend like those of their male counterparts.

According to interviews made in the publication for Luz Irene Fajardo there is a little hope of returning safely to Sinaloa, while for 'La Patrona', there is no possibility of a return without putting her life at risk.