Border patrol agents have been warned that the deadly Sinaloa cartel could turn its guns on them as a brutal power struggle engulfs the Mexican drug gang.

Notorious gangsters have always been reluctant to confront American law enforcement for fear of a violent reaction.

But that reluctance was abandoned after the arrest of two senior officials sparked a battle for control of the multibillion-dollar cartel among younger members.

“They don’t fear anyone anymore, especially American law enforcement,” Victor Avila, a former Homeland Security Investigations agent, told Newsnation.com.

“They have the resources and the capabilities, and they will use them against us.”

Those guarding the US border have been warned they could be targeted by Mexico’s notorious Sinaloa drug cartel for the first time, as rival factions fight for control.

More than 190 people have been killed since the arrest of Barons Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada (left) and Joaquín Guzmán López (right) by US authorities in July.

The famous group has been in turmoil since its co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López – the son of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán – were arrested in the United States after traveling there on a small plane on July 25.

The battle for control has since claimed the lives of more than 190 people in the gang’s Culiacán base in Mexico’s Sinaloa province.

But violence began to spread across the border after contractors working on a ranch in Eagle Pass, Texas, reported being shot at across the border fence on October 15.

An internal alert has since been sent to Customs and Border Patrol agents in the surrounding El Paso sector, warning them to approach any suspected cartel members with extreme caution.

This comes less than a month after four rocket-propelled grenades were discovered alongside eight roadside bombs at an ammunition depot on the Mexican side of the border near Ajo, Arizona.

And the growing threat is putting increased pressure on the Biden administration and its former border security official, Kamala Harris.

“Border Control Agents have long told us that they face increased risks in their work on the front lines,” said Rep. Mark Green, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

“These reports are just further proof that cartels will stop at nothing to take what they want.

“Our Border Patrol Agents deserve policies that will make their jobs easier. Unfortunately, Biden and Harris have proven them otherwise.

This month, National Guards cordoned off an area where a body was found on a street in Culiacán.

Victor Avila, a former Homeland Security investigative agent, warned that the new generation of gangsters fear no one

El Mayo claimed in a letter that he was kidnapped and forced onto the plane by Guzmán López.

Fighting has since broken out between a faction led by one of his sons, Ismael “Mayito Flaco” Zambada Sicairos, and Guzmán López’s siblings, Iván Guzmán Salazar and Jesús Guzmán Salazar – the last of the Los Chapitos still in power .

Cartel fighters kidnapped David Martínez, 20, son of local police journalist Ernesto Martínez, and his two friends, Antonio Bojórquez and Ezequiel Jasso, on the evening of September 16, in the Culiacán neighborhood of Prados del Sur, after arresting David’s vehicle and searched their cell phones.

David Martínez was released a few hours after his kidnapping. But Antonio Bojórquez and Jasso were beaten to death and their bodies were found alongside another man under a bridge on September 18.

The new generation of gunmen now regularly approaches people on the street or in cars and demands they hand over their mobile devices.

Owners will be killed if they find contacts from rival factions on devices, or sometimes even a conversation with the wrong word or photo with the wrong person.

They will then target everyone on that person’s contact list, forming a potential chain of kidnappings, torture and death.

Culiacán residents, including veteran journalist Ismael Bojórquez, are reluctant to leave their homes because of the cartel’s tactics.

“You can’t go five minutes out of town, even in broad daylight,” Bojórquez said recently. ‘For what? Because the narcos have set up roadblocks and they stop you and search your cell phone.

Last week, gunmen broke into a hospital in Culiacán to kill a patient who had previously been shot.

And on October 4, drivers were surprised to see four armed men attack a military helicopter that was trying to round them up near a highway north of the city.

Police failed to quell the violence as Culiacán’s entire municipal force was temporarily disarmed by soldiers to check their weapons, something previously done when the military suspected police officers of working for cartels drugs.

The local army commander recently acknowledged that it is up to the cartel factions – and not the authorities – to end the violence.

“People live in fear, schools are empty, young people disappear, the streets are empty at night,” said Miguel Calderón, general coordinator of the State Council of Public Security.

“We have a social emergency on the horizon.”