A brazen Sunday cartel assassination inside a Sonora capital city restaurant is sparking fears of escalated turf violence throughout the Mexican border state abutting Arizona.

A cartel hit targeting the alleged regional boss for the Sinaloa Cartel faction “Los Salazar” occurred at approximately 8 pm inside the Ballpark Restaurant Sunday. The plaza boss was identified as Sergio Alberto del Villar Suárez, aka “El Napoleón,” according to local reports. He was executed by an unknown gunman while sitting at a table with two females. Security video shows a man remove a concealed weapon from his waistband before twice shooting El Napoleón. A family with children sitting at the adjacent table was unharmed.

Sonora is seeing a significant uptick in cartel violence. Breitbart Texas law enforcement sources indicate the recent execution is raising fears of an escalated turf war between rival cartel-affiliated gangs. Breitbart Texas recently reported on the continued attacks against police with the 15th officer killed over the past weekend. The deadly cartel attacks mostly occur in the southern and capital sections of the state, with incidents emerging in tourist port Guaymas as well.

El Napoleón was the subject of his own narco-corrido by singer Javier Rosas. The coded lyrics boast of how the “merchandise” is always delivered to its “destination” while tricking U.S. law enforcement.

Narcocorridos are popular, yet controversial, in both Mexico and the U.S. The modern folk songs are often about drug lords or those dedicated to the trade, glorifying a violent lifestyle. The tracks usually draw anger from rivals. This blowback has, at times, resulted in singers being killed. A Sonora performer from a group called “Los Ronaldos” was gunned down in July.

In October 2018, El Napoleón was arrested with four other suspected gunmen after a series of attacks on Guaymas municipal police. El Napoleón was later released without charges filed.

Robert Arce is a retired Phoenix Police detective with extensive experience working Mexican organized crime and street gangs. Arce has worked in the Balkans, Iraq, Haiti, and recently completed a three-year assignment in Monterrey, Mexico, working out of the Consulate for the United States Department of State, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Program, where he was the Regional Program Manager for Northeast Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas.)