In Mexico, cartels rule many parts of the streets and society.
As independent market operators, they are frequently at each others' throats, as they try to rule the markets in order to dominate and earn profit.
Whereas many cartel leaders are powerful and ruthless men, one cartel in particular, had a woman as one of its leaders.
Her name, María Guadalupe López Esquivel, better known as 'La Catrina', the Mexican 'Grande Dame of Death', was an assassin, and one of high-ranking officials at Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
The young woman, was also an Instagram model, famous not for being a ruthless leader she was, but for posting sultry, half-naked, with guns.
María was killed after succumbing to her wounds, after being shot in a police standout at her reinforced home.
It all began when the authorities received a tip about María's whereabouts.
Soon, the authorities dispatched fully-armed special forces consisting of the Mexican National Guard and Michoacán state police to the location, in order to surround the rather secluded compound in Michoacán state’s Aguililla municipality.
The fortified house was María's home, and one of her hideouts.
After members of her cartel and personal hit squad realized that they've been ambushed, they opened fire.
And María joined the shootout.
But for the young woman, she was unfortunate because she was the main target of the operation. And being a threat during the shootout, means that the special forces had to take her down.
In the attempt, María was shot.
Bodycam footage from one of the police forces shows how the 21-year-old woman was gasping for breath after a gunshot wounded her throat.
Fighting for her life due to a torn left jugular vein and damaged windpipe, she is seen frightened and disheveled as she collapsed behind a wall.
The young woman's jeans and black short-sleeve shirt were all covered in her blood.
"Calm down, kid. The helicopter is coming for you," the officer said. "It is coming now, easy, easy, you are going to be okay. Try to hang on."
One of the officers carried her, and she was then transported to the nearest military hospital using a helicopter, after the police made a wrap around her neck to apply pressure and help stop the bleeding.
But again, she was unfortunate because she was already loosing too much blood.
She died in the helicopter just minutes before the helicopter landed.
Others who were arrested at the location, include her colleagues identified as Alejandra, Everardo, Brayan, Juan Carlos, Octavio, Pedro and Alejandro.
The authorities also seized a number of vehicles from María's hideout, as well as firearms and bundles of cash.
Cartels, notorious for their fierceness, have been increasingly violent following Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán's imprisonment in 2019.
In the war fought between the cartels as they try to control over rival gangs and other carters, an increased in deaths from killings have been reported.
At this time, the cartel that rose to prominence between 2013 and 2015, is believed to be the strongest cartel in Mexico, with analysts believing that it's responsible for trafficking many tons of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl-laced heroin throughout the Americas, Asia and Europe.
A week before María's death, the CJNG dropped flyers from a plane offering 5 million pesos for information on the whereabouts of Don Jose, the leader of a rival cartel.
Its leader Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho,” is wanted by both U.S. and Mexican authorities.
María was born in Buenavista, before she lived in Tepalcatepec, where she attended primary school.
She joined the criminal organization CJNG in 2017, after falling in love with one of its leaders, Miguel "El M2" Fernandez, who was also arrested during the raid, according to the report.
Being the lover of Miguel , she rose up in ranks.
María is a rare example of a woman ranking high in a cartel.
Most of the time, women with high-level ranks act as money launderers. It's rare for them to become killers, let alone command or coordinate hit squads.
But again, since Maria is a woman, she still didn't have that same authority as men leaders of the cartel. Besides being an assassin herself, she was responsible for paying other cartel members and coordinating assassinations, extortion and kidnappings, according to the report.
During her life, her group of assassins have assassinated more than a dozen police.
Ranking high in the cartel, she indeed received perks and privileges, many of which were showed off on Instagram.
In the photo- and video-sharing app, María can be seen showing off her glamorous lifestyle, which among others, include flaunting her curves with various firearms.
One of her posts that received the most engagement, was the one where she posed with a gold-plated AK-47 assault rifle.
Before she died, she was regarded as one of the leading figures in the cartel.
María, a hitwoman, shared her nickname with La Calavera Catrina, the female skeletal figure associated with Mexico’s Day of the Dead, had amassed a huge online followings on Instagram.
In her two years with the gang, she was infamous for her bloody methods and cruelness.
María was indeed a gun-loving, killing fashionista.
Previously: A 17-Year-Old YouTuber Murdered After Insulting A Notorious Mexican Drug Lord