From Our Own Correspondent Mexico's deadly drug cartel feud
Feb 28, 2026
Quentin Sommerville, an on-the-ground correspondent reporting on Mexico’s cartel violence. Ben Steele, a BBC reporter who tracked Russian soldiers fleeing the front line. Sara Wheeler, a travel writer who sailed Benin’s Black River. They discuss Mexico’s deadly cartel feuds and fallout after El Mencho’s death. They also cover frontline desertions in Ukraine and a slow river journey through Benin’s communities.
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Gruesome Violence and Community Response In Culiacan
- Quentin Somerville witnessed gruesome cartel violence in Culiacan, including flayed and dismembered bodies used as warnings.
- He described volunteer paramedics' increased call-outs (+73% in a year) and Mothers Fighting Back searching graves for disappeared loved ones.
Cutting Off Heads Creates More Snakes
- Decapitation of cartel leaders often fragments organisations, producing more violent rival factions rather than ending crime.
- Somerville explains Sinaloa's internal betrayals and warns fragmentation fuels exponential spikes in killings and territorial battles.
Paramedics On The Frontline Of Cartel Shootings
- Somerville rode with volunteer paramedics Julio Cesar Vega and Hector Torres who arrive first at cartel shootings and often can only cover corpses.
- They reported only one incident that week with survivors and said fear and disappearances are constant in Sinaloa.