An armed group attacked the Tropicana casino in the Tres Ríos district of Culiacán, using incendiary devices to set the premises on fire.
The attack left one woman dead, at least two others with burn injuries, and around 40 employees evacuated. According to local reports, the assailants threw improvised incendiary devices at the building, triggering a fire that spread rapidly before being contained by the city’s fire service.
The casino had previously been targeted in a shooting on April 27 and had reportedly remained closed since that incident.
The latest attack took place hours after a federal security cabinet meeting in Culiacán led by Omar García Harfuch, held at the city’s Ninth Military Zone amid an ongoing security crisis. Both the governor of Sinaloa and the mayor of Culiacán had recently requested leave of absence.
Authorities from federal, state and municipal levels responded to the scene, while the state Attorney General’s Office opened an investigation to determine the cause of the fire and identify those responsible. Jesús Bill, head of Civil Protection in the city, said the origin of the fire had not yet been formally confirmed pending forensic analysis.
The incident is the latest in a series of attacks targeting casinos in Culiacán following the outbreak of an internal conflict within the Sinaloa Cartel. In January 2026, a casino and a gas station were attacked simultaneously, while a truck carrying slot machines was set on fire in a separate incident that same month.
The escalation adds pressure on Mexico’s gaming sector as authorities face increasing scrutiny over regulation and enforcement. Recent developments include Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions targeting casinos in Tamaulipas linked to the Cartel del Noreste, as well as regulatory pushback against reports tying casino licences to a former politician.
Casino attacks in Culiacán have precedent: in 2012, the Casino Royale attack in Monterrey left 52 people dead, marking one of the deadliest assaults on a gaming venue in Mexico
