In early October 2025, an image purportedly showing a banner from the Sinaloa cartel threatening American citizens in Baja California, Mexico, circulated online across multiple platforms, including Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived) and X (archived). Many Snopes readers also searched the site for information about the supposed threat.
"The Sinaloa Cartel is threatening to target American citizens in popular tourist spots like Cabo in response to lab raids and seizures, according to Breitbart," one post read.
The alleged banner addressed FBI Director Kash Patel and Terry Cole, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, among others. It was purportedly signed by "La Chapiza," a primary faction of the Sinoloa cartel:
(breitbart.com)
It read:
Terry Cole, Kash Patel, Ronald Johnson, Navy, Federal Ministerial Police, the Sadai Group, Claudia Sheinbaum, Harfuch Attorney General of the state, Gerente [Roberto Carlos Álvarez], alias "El 6" [Jorge Leonardo García González] or better known as "El Babay" [Abraham Cervantes Escareaga]: you are responsible. we are going to show you how we will do this war. From Oct. 5, 2025, we will begin to make you give up Every american citizen that resides where we have presence la Chapiza, mainly those that reside in Cabo San Lucas and San Jose for inserting themselves into the war in Sinaloa, Baja California Sur where we rule/are bosses. Bunch of a**holes, and we are going to show you if you don't stop detaining the young guys and seizing and dismantling our laboratories and weapons in Juarez, Sinaloa and Baja California Sur and getting into the Badriguato mountains. Sincerely, La Chapiza and its allies.
Fake, AI-generated images of members of the Sinaloa cartel also spread online alongside the claim.
The "war" mentioned on the banner may refer to a notice U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly sent to members of Congress in late September or early October 2025 declaring a formal "armed conflict" with drug cartels, which The New York Times obtained.
The Trump administration has increasingly targeted cartels in Mexico; in February 2025 the U.S. government
We reached out to the FBI seeking information regarding whether the agency was treating the alleged banner as a threat to Americans and received an automated reply indicating that agency responses were at a standstill during the government shutdown.
Snopes was unable to find definitive proof that the banner existed or proof of the authenticity of the claims made on the banner. The only image of the alleged banner is as shown above – we did not find any other angles. It is also unclear whether the cartel was actually behind the alleged banner.
As of this writing, there have been no major reports of cartel violence against Americans in these regions since the image first circulated, and no credible news outlet reported on the alleged banner as if it were real. A Google search using the keywords "cartel banner american citizens" revealed results primarily from social media posts related to the claim and local news sites.
(Google.com)
While it's unclear precisely where the image originated online (some comments suggested people saw the image of the alleged banner on private cartel Telegram channels), Breitbart News was one of the first U.S. outlets to make the claim (archived) that the alleged banner "first surfaced on Sunday [Oct. 5, 2025] in Baja California, where gunmen left two banners allegedly signed by Los Chapitos." We reached out to the two Breitbart reporters who wrote the story seeking information regarding the claim's credibility and will update this story if we receive a response. News outlets Border Report (archived) and The Daily Mail (archived) also spread the claim in the following days.
Authorities in Mexico not only denied the authenticity of the banner, they urged the public to "remain calm" and warned against misinformation spreading on social media.
Baja California's State Attorney General's Office (PGJE) reportedly released a statement saying that its head, Antonio López Rodríguez, "categorically denied the discovery… of banners with messages and threats against government institutions in various towns," according to an Oct. 5 report (archived) by Tribuna de México [translation via Google translate].
According to an Oct. 6 Tribuna de México story (archived), Christian Agúndez Gómez, mayor of San Jose del Cabo, said [translation via Google Translate]:
The necessary investigation files are being opened, and we will be attentive to the results of the PGJE. Unfortunately, social media sometimes plays a role in hindering people's peace of mind. That's why it's important to verify information with official sources before sharing it.
While the origins of this alleged banner were unverified, Mexican cartels have historically used banners over public areas to send warnings or threatening messages. Publicly available Getty images from 2010 and 2008 illustrate this, showing such banners in Monterrey and Puebla.
In sum, because there was only one image circulating with unidentified origins that lacks key information — such as who took the image, whether the cartel was behind it and whether the threats are authentic — we were unable to verify the banner's authenticity.
Authorities in Mexico also "categorically denied" the alleged banner's authenticity and called on the public to verify information with official sources before sharing it.
Much of the information spread on social media regarding the alleged banner was fear-mongering, meaning that the information was based on unverified reports and lacked primary evidence, but shared as though credible sources had confirmed facts that represented a legitimate threat to public safety.
Snopes reporters Anna Rascouët-Paz and Jack Izzo translated the image of the banner.