Tied Hand and Foot in the Back Seat: Army Chase Through Culiacán Ends With an SUV Wrapped Around a Tree, 2 Men Arrested and 2 Captives Freed
A gray Hyundai Tucson that sped past a checkpoint in Culiacán, Sinaloa, on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, was chased by Mexican Army soldiers and state police with shots fired along the way. It ended up wrapped around a tree near the Villa Bonita neighborhood, on the city’s south side. Inside, according to El Universal, troops found four men. Two of them were tied hand and foot in the back seat. The other two were arrested.
How the chase unfolded
El Universal reporter Javier Cabrera Martínez wrote that the SUV was moving at high speed on Álvaro Obregón avenue and its occupants ignored orders to stop for an inspection. The pursuit that followed included an exchange of gunfire. Tribuna said it was not yet known whether anyone was hit by a bullet. Los Noticieristas reported that Army personnel spotted the vehicle shortly before 12:30 p.m.
Opposite Villa Bonita, near the on-ramp to the Benito Juárez bypass known as La Costerita, the driver lost control, jumped the median and hit a tree. All four men were treated for crash injuries and handed to prosecutors, who will decide each man’s legal status, El Universal and Tribuna reported. Neither the detainees nor the freed men had been named.
Sinaloa’s Public Security Secretariat closed Álvaro Obregón avenue in both directions during the operation and asked drivers to avoid the area, Noroeste and Línea Directa reported.
Línea Directa TV’s video from the scene:
Early reports differed on the count
The first reports did not agree. Línea Directa, citing a 911 call about a man being “levantado” (snatched) and shots in Villa Bonita around 12:20 p.m., reported three men aged 30 to 40 arrested and one person rescued. El Universal, Tribuna and Los Noticieristas reported two arrests and two freed captives. Noroeste said the chase was preliminarily linked to the kidnapping of “several people,” but that this had not been officially confirmed at the time.
Authorities have not publicly tied the detained men to any criminal group. Culiacán has been the main battleground of the war inside the Sinaloa Cartel, between factions loyal to Los Chapitos and Los Mayos, since September 2024.
Sources
- El Universal (Javier Cabrera Martínez), “Persecución a balazos entre fuerzas federales y civiles armados deja 2 detenidos en Culiacán,” Oct. 2, 2026
- Tribuna, “Persecución y balacera en Culiacán termina con camioneta estrellada, dos detenidos y dos rescatados,” Oct. 2, 2026
- Noroeste, “Persecución del Ejército a civiles armados termina en choque y dos detenidos al sur de Culiacán,” Oct. 2, 2026
- Línea Directa, “Persecución y operativo militar deja tres detenidos y una persona rescatada en Villa Bonita, Culiacán,” Oct. 2, 2026
- Los Noticieristas (Ernesto Martínez), “Se registra persecución a balazos en La Costerita, Culiacán,” Oct. 2, 2026
- Photos: Tere Navia, via Línea Directa; Noroeste, via Noroeste
Reported Oct. 3, 2026, from the outlets above. Officials had not named the detained or freed men, said what charges they face, or linked them to any group. Accounts of the number arrested and rescued differed in early reports.