Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has blamed the United States for the surge in cartel violence in Sinaloa, citing the recent arrest of a key cartel leader in the US. The violence, which has left at least 30 people dead in the past week, has plunged the state into fear and uncertainty. López Obrador argues that the US operation to capture Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada was illegal and destabilizing, leading to the current power struggle within the Sinaloa cartel.